Ninja Storm: The White Ninja (Rewrite)
by Zania330
Summary: Dawn Evenson is the seal to an ancient power, and has been for the past 500 years. When she learns of the Power Rangers, she travels to Blue Bay Harbor to assist the rangers in defeating Lothor. However, the task may not be so simple, and the rangers might not quite be what Dawn expected. (Rewrite of my first story) (Starts at Return of Thunder Part I) (Hunter/OC pairing)
1. Return of Thunder I

**Hey there, everyone!**

**So, here's the first chapter of my new story, The White Ninja (Rewrite) **

**The plot, overall, will be the same as the old story, which I will leave up for now in case anyone wants to compare. I'll be changing a few non-canon events, as well as Dawn's personality. Since she's based off of Hurricanger's character, Lady Gozen/Kagura, I'll incorporate a bit more of the character into Dawn, which had been neglected in the original story.**

**With that said, here's Dawn's new bio:**

**Name: **Dawn Evenson

**Age: **Physically 17 (biologically 500)

**Personality: **Dawn had once been a kind-hearted girl growing up, but over four centuries of traveling alone can also change a person. She doesn't care about getting to know someone, and she doesn't want people getting to know her either. However, that doesn't mean she isn't willing to help others, as long as it benefits herself in some way. Her intentions are good and noble, but while she acts polite around new people, she tends to close herself off from them afterwards.

**History of Abilities: **Dawn is the keeper of an ancient power, which has the ability to open the Abyss of Evil. Her father's side of the family had guarded the power in the past. Despite being the youngest sibling, since her older sister went down the path of magic instead, the responsibility of guarding it landed on Dawn. The power is in the form of a power disc, and even though she uses a decoy disc on her wrist, the real disc is hidden inside her forehead. The power inside acts like a third eye to Dawn, and give her light-based powers. Also deciding she doesn't want her fate passed down to any descendants, the disc was charmed to give Dawn immortality, so she can guard it herself.

**Recent History:** News of the kidnapped ninja students had reached Dawn, along with the rumors of Power Rangers. She knows that when the Abyss is to eventually be opened, she has her own part to play in preventing it. With that, Dawn traveled to Blue Bay Harbor in hopes of assisting the Power Rangers with their mission before she has to 'disappear' again.

**If you haven't noticed in the new picture, I've also changed Dawn's face claim. I've really gotten into Teen Wolf lately, so yeah :P I was originally deciding between Crystal Reed or Arden Cho for Dawn's face claim, but I eventuslly went with Crystal. Plus, I'll probably be keeping Emmy Rossum as Jeanne's face claim later in the series, so at least they look related**

**Alright, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review! If I get good feedback, then I'll rewrite the rest of the story too.**

**I do not own Power Rangers, or Super Sentai, or OneRepublic, or any of the face claims I used for my characters**

* * *

_I need another story_  
_Something to get off my chest_  
_My life gets kinda boring_  
_Need something that I can confess_

_'Til all my sleeves are stained red_  
_From all the truth that I've said_  
_Come by it honestly I swear_  
_Thought you saw me wink, no_  
_I've been on the brink, so_

_Tell me what you want to hear_  
_Something that'll light those ears_  
_I'm sick of all the insincere_  
_I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_This time  
Don't need another perfect lie  
Don't care if critics ever jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away  
_

"Uh, excuse me?"

Dawn pulled out one of her earphones, and looked upwards to see someone staring down at her. It was a guy, he looked in his late teens, maybe. He was maybe almost half a head taller than her, and had blonde hair. However, what most caught her attention were his eyes; they were blue.

"Um, is there something wrong?" She asked, taking a second to press the pause button on her iPod, before looking back at the stranger in front of her.

"Well, you've kinda been standing here for a few minutes now," He informed her, placing his hand on top of the shirt rack that she had been standing by. "And by the looks of it, you haven't even been looking at anything on it."

"I wasn't aware the rack had a time limit," Dawn retorted, pulling out her other earphone, and wrapping the wire around her iPod before shoving it in her pocket.

He was right, though. She had been standing at that same rack for a few minutes, and she wasn't even flipping through it. Honestly, she didn't even know she was inside a sports shop. She had originally just been walking around outside...then OneRepublic came up on her playlist, and she got lost in the music; the band had some pretty good songs after all.

"It doesn't, unless someone wants to see what's on the rack, and someone else is in the way," He stated, seeming satisfied when Dawn realized he had a point.

"Alright, you don't have to be so cocky about it," She held her hands up slightly in innocence, then took a step away from the rack. "Sorry, there. The rack's all yours."

"Thanks," He gave her a slight nod, then looked downwards and flipped through a couple of shirts on the rack, while Dawn started to turn the other way. "Hey, wait. Uh, I don't think I've seen you around much here before."

Dawn turned around again when she heard him call back to her. She stared at him for a short moment, as if trying to decide whether or not to talk to him. Part of herself, the wiser part, was telling her to just walk away from him. The other part, the part that was simply a teenage girl, was yelling at her to talk to the cute guy; that part won.

"Yeah, well, I just arrived in town here last week. I'm staying with some relatives," She said, approaching him again. It wasn't a complete lie; she had just come into town the previous week, after all. The last part was bullshit, though; she was staying alone in a motel a couple of miles away.

"Nice; my brother and I moved here a while ago," He nodded slightly, then looked around the store, as if figuring out what to say next. "Do you play any sports?"

"...not really; well, nothing consistent, at least," She shook her head in response. She had actually gotten into soccer a while back ago, but she hadn't played in a few years. "Do you play anything?"

"Sort of, I guess. I do motocross," He told her, before chuckling slightly when he realized she wasn't too sure what motocross was; she had never said it, but the look on her face spoke for her. "It's like racing, but with dirt bikes on a dirt track. It's actually cooler than it sounds. Maybe you could check me out sometime; Blue Bay has a track nearby."

She raised her eyebrow slightly at him, and crossed her arms too. "Are you basically asking me to watch you ride a bike, in hopes I'll find it hot and attractive?" She asked him, a little jokingly. "You don't even know my name."

He shook his head a little, and chuckled again. "Alright, then what's you're name?"

"I'm Dawn."

"Hunter."

Seeming satisfied with his answer, Dawn held out her hand, and smiled when he shook it and grinned back at her. Before either one of them could say anything else though, someone standing by the door called over to Hunter. This guy looked almost the opposite of Hunter; he was shorter and Asian-looking, with black hair and brown eyes.

"Hey, bro! Come on, we have to go."

"That's my brother, Blake," Hunter explained to Dawn, turning back to look at her. "We gotta go. Maybe I'll see you around sometime?"

Dawn had to think for a second for a good answer. Trust me, she had no intention on seeing anyone around town anytime soon, but still, she decided to go with the regular polite response. "Yeah, maybe," She said with a normal smile, then waved slightly while she watched Hunter leave with Blake.

Her hand dropped back down afterwards, and she sighed to herself. Even though it felt good to have a casual conversation like a normal teenager, she couldn't be a normal teenager. She couldn't afford to make friends, she couldn't afford to get close to anyone. Now, her wiser side was screaming at her again to focus. She had a task to complete.

She had to find the Power Rangers.

* * *

Speaking of the Power Rangers, the team of three ninja-streaked down to the city after getting an alien alert. Eventually, they ended up outside a warehouse. The three rangers took out their swords, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious at the same time.

"I don't see anything," Shane spoke up, as he looked around the place and kept his sword raised, just in case.

"I hate to bring it up, but this is always how it starts," Tori reminded him, turning her head and trying to look for anything too.

Suddenly, smoke began to appear quickly from everywhere, and it clouded the rangers' vision. "Brutal smog alert!" Dustin cried, trying to see through the smoke around them all. "Where is this dude?"

A hand came down and clawed at each of the rangers' chest, making them fall and roll onto the ground. "I rest my case," Tori grumbled, slowly starting to sit up.

"Well, if it isn't the world famous Power Rangers," A voice spoke up, as the rangers looked up to see a figure emerge from the smoke. It was obvious to see that it was the alien they were looking for. "You know, you look taller on tv," The alien, Toxipod, told them as a bitter joke.

"Anyone ever tell you that your look uglier in person?" Dustin retorted, standing back on his feet and holding his sword up.

"What is this?" Tori asked, sarcasm seeping into her voice, as she got back onto her feet too, along with Shane. "Attack of the Giant Snail?"

"Not a problem!" Shane exclaimed, pointing his sword forwards again, as he and his teammates got prepared to fight.

Before the rangers could advance forwards, a blast of lightning came down and hit the three of them, making them stagger and fall on their knees again. "What the-?" Shane groaned, sitting up and trying to see where the blast had come from.

"Hey, remember us?" A familiar, but dark, taunting voice called out.

The rangers looked upwards while they stumbled onto their feet again, shocked at who they saw. "You guys?!" Dustin realized, pointing up where Hunter and Blake stood; their arms were crossed, and their eyes were narrowed at the three rangers underneath their helmets.

"What are you doing?" Tori called up to them, seeming just as shocked as Dustin.

"Yeah!" Shane nodded, shaking his head in confusion.

Without a response, Hunter and Blake nodded once at each other before jumping down from the platform they stood on, and charging forwards at the three rangers. Within seconds, the two teams of rangers were battling each other; swords, staffs, and all.

From the platform of another building nearby, a figure in black stood there. It was a female, wearing a ninja academy uniform with white accents. There was a ninja mask covering her entire face, except her brown eyes. The symbol on her uniform was a silver star with a gold center, and perched on top of her wrist was a silver band that had a matching symbol encased in the surface. A katana sword also rested in its case, which was strapped on her back.

She watched the fight unfold beneath her. Well, she had done it, she found the Power Rangers; she didn't expect that they'd be losing to another set of rangers. _I__ can't reveal myself to them; n__ot in the middle of a fight, anyway, _She thought to herself, but as she continued to watch, the rangers were still losing. _Okay, this is just getting sad. Someone has to go down there and even things up._

With that, the girl drew her katana sword and jumped off the platform. She landed in front of the Wind Rangers, just as Hunter fired off a blast from his Crimson Blaster, so she used her sword to deflect the beams and bounce them off to the side.

"Okay, I think they've had enough of you two," She narrowed her eyes at the two dark-colored rangers, keeping her arms bent upwards and her sword raised to the level of her head. "It's my turn now."

"And who do you think you are, anyway?" Hunter sneered at her.

"None of your business," She retorted, giving a small shake of her head. "You just need to know if you want to fight the rangers, you have to get through me first."

Said-rangers, however, were confused with the girl that was defending them. Who was she? "Why are you helping us?" Shane asked, taking a step forward so he was facing her side.

"Just know I'm an ally," She told them, remaining in the same position, but her eyes flickered towards Shane. "You and the others go deal with sea-snail over there; I can handle these two," She informed him, while the three of them exchanged hesitant glances. "Go!"

Shane, Tori, and Dustin stared at the girl, then looked back and nodded at each other, before jumping onto the platform of the warehouse and going after Toxipod, who was somewhere inside. The girl, on the other hand, kept her eyes on the Thunder Rangers.

"Last chance to run away," Hunter told her, gripping the handle on his Crimson Blaster tightly.

"You're making a mistake, you know," Blake spoke up, looking back at her. "You have no idea what you're going up against."

"Well neither do you," She shot back, and with that said, the two brothers charged towards her.

Hunter fired several shots with his Crimson Blaster, but the girl used her sword to deflect a few of them again, then rolled away to avoid the rest. Once she was back on her feet, she came face to face with Blake, who had his Thunder Staff in his hand and swung at her. The girl fought back with her own sword, avoiding each of his hits. She spun her own sword in a figure eight, while advancing forwards so he would back away, before spinning once and bringing her sword down on his chest when she landed on her feet again.

Blake groaned in pain and staggered backwards so he could recover, so Hunter stepped up and used his staff against her this time. Once again, the girl was engaged in another sword fight, but the tables began to turn when Hunter managed to knock her sword out of her hand.

"Not so tough without your sword now, huh?" He spat at her, pointing the tip of his staff. "You're just a ninja student; you can't take us down."

As Hunter began to bring down his sword on the girl, she raised her hands upwards to block it, but the moment the staff made contact with her hands, they glowed white. The light from the girl's hands spread in front of her as if shielding her from the impact. She shot her hands forwards, making the light implode, and causing Hunter to stagger back from her.

"Newsflash; I'm no ordinary ninja," The girl stated, before raising two fingers that were faced sideways to her head, then shooting her hand forward again, sending a blast of energy at the two brothers.

The blast hit them both, causing Hunter and Blake to yell as they fell down in pain. The girl lowered her hand and picked up her katana again, placing it back in the case on her back, and knowing the battle had been won.

Meanwhile, the rangers emerged from the warehouse, and the girl was able to watch as they managed to kill Toxipod with a blast from the Storm Striker.

The girl began to approach the rangers, but stopped when she saw a now-giant Toxipod appear and challenge the rangers again. Shane, Tori, and Dustin summoned their zords and jumped inside them, while the girl sighed with some frustration to herself...to make things worse, Hunter and Blake got away. She had nothing left to do but watch the fight again, and hope for a better outcome.

Luckily, the rangers were succeeded in destroying Toxipod once again, but the odds changed when Hunter and Blake arrived in their own zords, quickly combining to form the Thunder Megazord. Both megazords had their own blades out, and had become evenly matched this time.

While the girl watched from afar, she saw something else appear nearby. It was Choobo, who began to laugh while watching the fight too. "I hope you like the beach, cause that's where you're heading!" He cackled, sending a beam into the sky, then came back down and hit Toxipod's shell.

The shell began to rise from the wreckage and float in the middle of the air, before eventually exploding in front of the megazords. The pieces of the shell glowed orange and fell on top of the megazords, causing all the rangers to cry out in confusion, before they disappeared from inside.

"Huh?" The girl mumbled, watching from the ground, until the glow managed to catch up to her too. "What? No!" She exclaimed, and faded from the scene too.

* * *

**Alright, I hope this chapter was okay. The ending of fight scene between Dawn and the Thunder Rangers was inspired by one of the fights with Lady Gozen/Kagura in Hurricanger, and the figure eight move was inspired a sword fight scene on Teen Wolf between Kira against one of the twins (if you've seen Teen Wolf, you'll know which scene I mean)**

**Anyway, please give me some feedback. Is there anything else I can improve on? And how does it compare to my original story?**


	2. Return of Thunder II

**Hi there, guys!**

**So, I did get 6 reviews for the first chapter, and that was honestly 5 more than I expected, so I'm happy for that :) Thanks for the feedback, guys, and to all the people that have favorite-ed or followed this story; I didn't realize how many of you would be interested in this rewrite ;)**

**Honestly, I'm liking this rewrite a lot better too. I'm really putting my all into this, and trying my best to make it make sense, while at the same time trying to be original.**

**With that said, here's the next chapter. I typed like 6,500 words for this chapter, so this is definitely one of the longest I've written now; being descriptive takes time and a lot of thought, apparently :P**

******Oh! I also forgot to mention in the previous chapter that Dawn's wristband is supposed to look like the Dino Thunder morphers in their bracelet form, except instead of a Dino Gem, the power disc in on the wristband instead.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, and please review! :)**

**I do not own Power Rangers, or Super Sentai, or Crystal Reed**

* * *

Waves began to roll in by the shore. Tori laid face-down on the damp sand, and when she finally came to, her head lifted up, and she pushed herself onto her feet. Her jeans had a large water stain on the front mixed with some sand, but that stain was the least of her problems. First, she needed to figure out where she was; and where the guys were too.

Part of her wishes were answered, when she saw Dustin stand up and rub his face. "Aw, man," He grumbled tiredly, also looking as if he had just woken up too. "I feel like I just got ran over by a full gate of 250's."

"Me too-whatever that means," Tori winced slightly, stepping over a couple of rocks and approaching him. It was then that she realized they were still missing one member of their team. "Hey, where's Shane?"

"Right here!" Shane called over to them, as soon as he spotted them. He stumbled down a few rocks too, and made his way over to his friends. He seemed tired too, but more in an exhausted way, considering he was panting. "I hiked up a hill to check things out; we're on an island."

"An island?" Tori repeated, her head turning while her eyes scanned the area.

"Yeah. There's no other land of people as far as I can see," Shane continued, until he noticed Dustin trying to check his morpher, but he held his hand over to stop him. "Don't bother; I already tried. We can't get in touch with Ninja Ops."

Dustin huffed with some frustration and disappointment, letting his wrist drop again. "Well the last thing I remember, we were...battling zords with Hunter and Blake," He recalled, as he and the others looked outwards towards the ocean.

"Yeah," Shane muttered, an irritated look on his face now. "Don't remind me."

Tori, on the other hand, squinted over him and shook her head in disagreement. "There has to be an explanation."

"I think everything's pretty clear now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Shane turned fully so he was now facing Tori. "We've only known those guys for, what? A month?" He started out. "And how much of that time have they not tried to take us out?"

"You didn't see Blake yesterday!" Tori insisted, while the wind blew some stray strands of hair into her face, but she ignored it. "Something must've happened when he and Hunter went on Lothor's ship."

"When you're ready to get real, come talk to me," Shane told her, his mind unchanged, before he turned away and sighed to himself, then started walking again. "I gotta find a way outta here."

Tori just stared at Shane with some disbelief, and exchanged looks with Dustin. "We can always trade him for a new ranger," He suggested, trying to somewhat cheer her up, but at the same time, he looked as if he was actually thinking about the possibilities. "Maybe a green one!"

Tori shrugged a little, also thinking about it, before eventually, she and Dustin caught up with Shane again. "Hey, wait up!" She called towards Shane, while she and Dustin walked behind their red ranger. "Alright, I admit this is brutal, but we have to allow the possibility that there's some logical reason for all of this-"

"Hold on," Shane interrupted, holding a hand up to stop them. "What's that?"

The remaining two rangers followed Shane's gaze, where a body was lying stomach-down by the sand. "Wait a minute, isn't that the girl that helped us earlier?" Dustin recognized the white-accented black uniform on the person.

"I think it is," Tori realized, staring over at the body too, before she began walking towards it. "Come on, she helped us. We should help her too."

Shane and Dustin exchanged glances, then followed Tori towards the girl's body.

Once they were all close enough, they realized the girl's mask had fallen off, due to the long brunette hair that obscured her face from them. Shane spotted the missing ninja mask by his feet, and bent down to pick it up, while Dustin and Tori knelt by the girl. Dustin flipped the girl over so she was lying on her back, then moved aside her hair to reveal her face. The girl's hair was in gentle waves, and a full fringe covered her forehead. She couldn't have looked any older than a teenager, just like them.

"How did she end up here with us?" Dustin wondered, looking back at his teammates. "I thought she left before we vanished here."

"Maybe she was still close by when the shell exploded," Tori suggested. "She must've gotten transported here the same way we did."

"Well even if she helped us, we still don't know who she is," Shane pointed out, glancing at the ninja mask in his hand. "How do we know for sure if we can completely trust her?"

Before either of the others could respond, the girl's eyes scrunched tighter together, and she began to stir as she woke up. The three rangers moved back slightly so she had some space, and watched as the girl slowly sat upwards while holding her head.

"Ugh, my head," She groaned, finally coming to consciousness.

The first thing she noticed were Shane, Tori, and Dustin staring at her, and her eyes became more awake and alert. "Who are you guys?" She questioned, until she saw her mask in Shane's hand. "Hey, that's mine!" She snapped, reaching for her mask, but Shane quickly stood back in his feet and moved his arm out of her reach.

"You're not getting this back until we get some answers," Shane insisted, as Tori and Dustin stood as well.

"Well, I asked the first question," She pointed out, standing too, and crossing her arms. "I'll ask again; who are you all?"

"I think you already know who we are."

The girl's eyes flickered downwards, and she noticed the morphers perched on each of their wrists. "No way-you guys are the Power Rangers?" She realized, narrowing her eyes slightly at first. She didn't sound amazed, or even surprised; if anything, her tone was more of disbelief and a bit of disappointment. "You're teenagers."

"So are you," Dustin retorted, looking back at her. "But that didn't seem to stop you in that fight earlier with the Thunder Rangers."

"Touchè," She tilted her head at Dustin, then looked back at the rest of them. "What do you guys want to know?"

"Why did you help us in the first place?" Tori questioned her, choosing the more polite approach towards her. "We noticed your uniform; you're from one of the Ninja Academies, right? Did you escape Lothor?"

"You might've just answered your own question; us ninjas have to stick together, right?" The girl pointed out, nodding once at Tori. "Look, I promise I'll explain everything to you guys, but not right now. I will, once we're out of here...here, is where exactly?" She lightly scratched the back of her head, after her eyes scanned the area.

Clearly, she didn't know what had happened either.

"We're on an island," Tori explained to her. "After Toxipod's shell exploded, it somehow sent us here; you must've gotten pulled with us."

"Wait," Dustin started to think, then looked at his teammates. "You guys don't think Hunter and Blake got pulled here too, do you?"

As soon as Dustin had spoken those names, the girl's gaze moved towards the ground. Could it have been the same Hunter and Blake she had met at Storm Chargers earlier? It was too big to be a coincidence...

"There's only one way to find out," Shane said, before turning back to the girl and holding the mask out for her. "So, you still haven't told us your name."

The girl stared down at her mask for a second, then back at Shane, before accepting the mask back. "My name's Dawn," She introduced herself, before managing to slip her mask back over her face, and tuck her long hair inside.

Suddenly, thunder started to rumble, and when the four of them turned around, they saw something move in the forest in front of them. "You guys saw that, right?" Dustin pointed forwards, exchanging glances with the others, just to make sure he hadn't been seeing stuff.

"I did," Tori spoke up, staring at the forest.

"Same here," Dawn nodded with agreement.

They all kept an eye on the forest, until they spotted something move again. "Over there!" Shane pointed, and with that, they all sprinted forwards.

* * *

The four ninjas had taken off into the forest, following whatever it was they had seen. It required a few jumps to get over some obstacles in their way, but they managed to keep up, nonetheless. "Come on!" Shane called back at the teammates, while continuing to sprint. Within a few seconds though, he came to a stop. "Hold on, it came this way; I saw it," He spoke up, holding up a hand to stop the others from running further.

Their eyes all scanned through the forest, and they stood back to back with each other. "Good eye, Shane," A voice spoke up, and the four ninjas turned to see Blake and Hunter standing several feet away from them.

While the others were momentarily shocked to see the two brother stands there, none of them were as surprised as Dawn was.

Hunter tilted his head slightly, as soon as he caught sight of Dawn. "You again," He narrowed his eyes at her. "You still have yet to tell us who you are, you know."

Just a few hours ago, she had been having a normal conversation with Hunter, and now he was standing in front of her, ready for a battle against them. Hunter wasn't just as ninja, he was a Power Ranger; an evil one, too. No matter how interesting she had found him, Dawn wasn't going to let him or his brother defeat them now.

Dawn swallowed and locked her gaze on Hunter's. "My mission is to assist the Wind Rangers, not you," She spoke in a strong voice, and gave a small shake of her head. "I don't owe you any answers."

"Then I guess we'll have to destroy you too," Blake spoke with clenched fists, but Dawn remained still.

"There's no point in trying," Hunter eyed each of the rangers. "You know you can't defeat us; you can't win."

"The only way to win is to work together," Tori insisted, stating the obvious answer.

"Which I thought we were doing," Dustin added, raising his eyebrows at the two brothers.

Blake only crossed his arms, their words un-affecting him and Hunter. "Guess you were wrong."

"Tell you what, we'll even give you a head start, if you wanna run," Hunter offered them with a smirk.

Dawn only smiled with amusement underneath her mask, which thankfully hid her snicker too, while Shane rolled his eyes and scoffed slightly. Clearly they were both thinking the same thing; none of them would be running or cowering away any time soon.

"Sorry, Tor," Shane apologized without sincerity, taking the moment to glance at the blue ranger. "Whatever's up with these guys, we're not gonna fix it by letting them stomp on us."

"I have no intention on letting them stomp us," Tori stated, her sense of logic and reasoning-out gone, as she narrowed her eyes at the two brothers.

There was a moment of silence, until Shane, Tori, and Dustin tore off their casual clothes to reveal their own ninja uniforms. With that, all six ninjas got into their own fighting stances, prepared for battle.

"We don't wanna fight you!" Shane insisted, as he and his teammates inched towards Blake and Hunter. "But I think it's pretty clear we don't have a choice."

"Enough talk!" Hunter sneered, before he and Blake charged forwards, and the Wind Ninjas and Dawn charged right back at them.

Shane and Dawn teamed up to take on Hunter, while Tori and Dustin went up against Blake. The odds should've been in the Wind Rangers' favor numerically, but they were just barely even against the Thunder Rangers. They definitely knew how to put up a fight.

* * *

Within time, the ninjas moved their fight to the beach, and once all of them had arrived, each team regrouped and faced the opposite. "We having fun yet?" Shane glared at Blake and Hunter, maintaining his fighting stance too.

"No, but there's always this," Hunter spoke with a smirk, before he and Blake got out of their stances, and prepared to morph.

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"

In a flash of crimson and navy blue, Hunter and Blake morphed into their ranger suits.

"Power of Thunder!"

Dustin couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly, before looking back at Shane, Tori, and Dawn. "We knew that was coming," He huffed a little, watching while Hunter and Blake prepared themselves, until the three Wind Ninjas stood up straight again.

"Ready?" Shane asked, glancing between his teammates.

"Ready," Tori and Dustin nodded, getting ready to raise their wrist morphers.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form, Ha!"

In a flash of red, blue, and yellow, Shane, Tori, and Dustin stood there in their ranger suits as soon as they had morphed.

"Power of Earth!"

"Air!"

"Water!"

Dawn watched the two ranger teams morph, while she stood to the side of the Wind Rangers. She reached for the handle of her sword on her back, before pulling it out of its case and getting in her own battle stance.

"Oh, it's on now!" Blake growled at them. "We're through taking it easy on you!"

"You're right, Shane," Tori realized, taking a step forward. "They're not gonna listen to reason."

Dustin nodded too. "If it's them or us, I choose us!"

"Thank you!" Shane cried with some relief. "Finally, someone's listening to me."

With that said, the Wind Rangers drew their ninja swords, before the four ninjas leapt into the air. Hunter and Blake jumped upwards too, and within several colored streaks that bounced in the air, they all resumed their original fights against each other.

Shane and Dawn flipped backwards onto the top of a cliff, before Shane pulled out his weapon, and Dawn readied herself to release another white energy blast.

"Hawk Blaster!"

"Fire!"

The two of them fired their attacks in Hunter's direction, but the crimson ranger deflected each of the blasts with his Thunder Staff. "My blaster's bigger!" Hunter exclaimed, pulling out his own Crimson Blaster, and shooting at the top of the cliff.

The beams hit Shane and Dawn, causing them both to fall off the cliff and hit the ground hard. Shane was mostly protected from major injuries by his ranger suit, but Dawn held her side in pain. She had no suit to protect herself. As soon as Shane recovered, he noticed this and approached her immediately.

"Are you okay?" He asked, helping her up at the same time.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine in a few minutes," She shook her head at him. Even though she didn't have a ranger suit, her powers gave her an accelerated healing rate; unfortunately, it wasn't instantaneous, so it took time for herself to properly heal.

Tori and Dustin ran over and regrouped with Shane, but a blast hit all the three of them, courtesy once again of Hunter's blaster. The three rangers ended up on the ground again, their heads lifting up to see Hunter and Blake standing in the distance close by.

"You're through!" Hunter cried, aiming his blaster again at the rangers.

Meanwhile, Dawn lifted her head up from the ground, and clenched her teeth together at what she saw. Pushing through the pain, she grabbed her sword again and charged forwards, becoming engaged in another fight with Hunter. At last, however, Hunter managed to get a hit on her, and Dawn fell onto the ground.

"You know what, I'm starting to get really sick of you," He sneered down at Dawn, keeping her down by pointing his Crimson Blaster at her. "I think it's time to see who you really are."

Dawn tried to moved away as Hunter reached down and grabbed her by her jacket, pulling her close. She struggled in his grip and tried to move her head back, but Hunter roughly managed to grab her mask and yank it off her head.

"...Dawn?" Hunter realized, something snapping within him the moment he recognized the girl.

Her hair was a little messy from Hunter yanking off her mask, and there was a cut on her lip which was bleeding, but it was still Dawn, nonetheless, right in front of his eyes...No, this couldn't have been real for him. Dawn had been such a regular girl when he talked to her in the store; she seemed nice, she had been worth talking to. And yet, the two of them had spent the last hour trying to kill each other.

Dawn, on the other hand, stared at Hunter with her eyes narrowed, and the expression on her face was one of fury. "Go on; you said I was through, right?" She challenged him. "Finish me off."

Still, part of herself knew that Hunter wouldn't do it. She could tell so the moment confusion had slipped into his voice. Hunter pushed Dawn away from himself and turned away from her, staring down at the ground while he tried to straighten out his mind.

Meanwhile, the Wind Rangers were still dealing with Blake.

"Okay, you obviously have some serious emotional problems you're dealing with right now," Shane grunted with pain and irritation, as he got back onto his feet. "Have you ever considered group therapy?" He asked rhetorically with some sarcasm.

"This is getting really old!" Tori narrowed her eyes while she stood, clearly annoyed too.

Dustin clenched his fist after getting back onto this feet, his glove covered in soil. "Hey, I love dirt as much as the next guy-!"

"It sure doesn't show on your riding, Dustin!" Blake provoked, taking a step forward at the yellow ranger.

That was it. That was where Dustin drew the line. "You did not just bag on my riding!" Dustin gripped his sword tighter, then with a yell, he charged forwards at Blake.

Hunter, on the other hand, continued to remain still while his brother fought back alone. "Why are we fighting them?" He thought out loud, looking downwards in confusion, which didn't go unnoticed by Dawn.

It was like his whole attitude changed completely; like he had no idea what he had just done.

Blake had used his Navy Antler to grab Dustin's waist, and managed to pin him down over some rocks. "You want some more?!" He challenged, tightening the grip, while Dustin tried to get free.

"Hey, wait; isn't Dustin our friend?" Hunter realized, lowering his blaster and turning to his brother, as he began to remember when he and Blake had first met Dustin by the track, and he had quickly become their friend. "Blake, this is wrong."

"What are you talking about Hunter?" Blake asked, his head turning to glance at his brother.

Shane and Tori took advantage of the Thunder Rangers being distracted, and drew their wrists back. "Ninja Beams!" They called out, firing several beams of energy at Hunter and Blake.

Both of them cried out in pain when they got hit, and Blake ended up falling on top of Hunter. Working quickly, the Wind Rangers summoned their weapons and combined them, regrouping and aiming it at Hunter and Blake.

"Storm Striker!"

"Fire!" Shane cried, pulling the trigger, and firing a large energy blast at the two brothers.

The blast had hit Blake and Hunter, sending them into the air with an explosion, until they rolled onto the ground. They stumbled back onto their feet and tried their best to recover quickly, but the others were quicker. Shane, Tori, and Dustin drew their swords again, then flipped into the air.

"Ninja Power!"

Once the three rangers landed back on their feet, they slashed Hunter and Blake's chests, causing them both to fall again. "Now just stay down!" Tori ordered, lowering her sword as she looked down at their two opponents.

"Can we all get out of here now?" Dustin asked, changing the subject, and reminding them all that they were all still stuck on the island.

"Good idea," Shane nodded. "I'm so over this."

* * *

Once the battle was over, Shane, Tori, and Dustin started inching over towards Blake and Hunter while holding their swords forwards, and Dawn did the same thing with her own katana once she had recovered. "Careful, guys," Shane warned his teammates, as they got closer.

"Ow, my head," Blake grumbled, sitting up slowly along with his brother, then the two of them opened their helmet visors so their faces could be seen.

"Huh? Where are we?" Hunter muttered, looking around the area they were in, until he saw Blake kneeling on the ground. "Are you alright, bro?"

"Yeah," Blake assured him, before looking up as soon as he saw the others standing over him and Hunter.

Hunter looked at them too, seeming just as confused, as he and Blake stood. "What are you guys doing here?"

Shane, Tori, and Dustin opened their own visors too, and Tori tilted her head a little while he looked down at the two of them. "Hmm, they seem themselves," She shrugged, looking back over at Shane and Dustin.

Meanwhile, Dawn stood by the side of the Wind Rangers, remaining quiet. As soon as Hunter caught sight of Dawn, he seemed to remember what had happened to him and Blake during the period they were beamed by Lothor's ship; including the moment he met Dawn, and afterwards when he battled her.

"Dawn-it's really you?" Hunter realized, while everyone's gazes shifted to the white ninja by the side.

The girl just gave him a small nod, the neutral look on her face remaining. "Hello again, Hunter."

"Wait, you know her?" Shane raised his eyebrow slightly, turning to Hunter for an answer.

"I met her earlier at Storm Chargers," Hunter nodded in response, but his gaze was still locked on Dawn. All of a sudden, he was at loss for words. He didn't know whether to apologize, or ask questions. "I-I didn't know it was you-"

"I wouldn't have expected you too," Dawn interrupted, saving him from his stutters. "I didn't suspect you either until I saw you and Blake in the forest; I guess we all have parts of ourselves that we hide. None of you are what I expected, actually," She spoke, now addressing all of them. "I was expecting the Power Rangers to be professional, older; not a group of teenagers with friendship issues."

The rangers stared with disbelief at what she said. "Well no need to be harsh, dude," Dustin shook his head at Dawn. She had never said it harshly, though; she had managed to do it sounding calm and neutral.

"It's the truth," Dawn stated to them. "I'm not trying to be mean when I say it."

"Too late for that," Shane scoffed, rolling his eyes a little too.

Hunter still stared at Dawn, but unlike the others, who were irritated with her words, he seemed a little more disappointed. "So our conversation, at the store, you didn't care about any of that when you fought me earlier?"

Even though he hadn't known her for long, he found himself hoping that their conversation meant that they were at least on the road to becoming friends.

"It's called faking and being polite; it's something I do a lot," Dawn answered, her face still straight. She always had to do this, detach herself from people if she felt they had gotten close. You'd think she would've been used to it, but she would still always feel a small pang of disappointment whenever she did it. "...I'm sorry for deceiving you."

"Yeah, me too," Hunter shook his head at her.

"Hey!" A voice called from the top of a cliff in the distance. "You down there in the bodysuits!"

The rangers looked upwards, and spotted Choobo standing there. "He better not be talking to us," Hunter narrowed his eyes at the cliff, and shutting his visor along with the other rangers, but Dawn didn't bother to put her mask back on.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Choobo called down to the rangers, and judging by his tone, he seemed really upset with how things were turning out. "I've worked too hard to mess things up now! Super Toxipod!"

An explosion went off behind the rangers, and through the smoke, a familiar-faced monster appeared, but this time with a giant spiky shell on its back. "You can't keep a good snail down!" Toxipod cackled once he emerged. "Did you miss me?!"

The rangers gasped at the sight of his reappearance, until Toxipod blew fire at them all through his mouth. The six ninjas screamed in pain, and fell down when they were all hit. "Didn't we already fight this guy?" Shane complained, raising his head slightly from the ground.

"But he smells even worse!" Tori added, wrinkling her nose under her helmet.

"The smell is worse when you don't have a helmet," Dawn coughed, trying her best to hold her breath. She winced while trying to sit up, and her face was covered in sweat and soot from the fire.

"Now what does he want?" Dustin groaned, getting annoyed now too, as he and the others stood.

"Want?" Toxipod repeated, staring over at them all. "I want to sink this island with you on it! I want to cause and atmospheric reaction that will drop the temperature to 100 degrees below 0; I want payback!" He yelled with anger, then shot some lasers at the rangers.

To make things worse, a bunch of Kelzaks appeared by Toxipod's side, ready to fight. The Wind Rangers gripped their swords tightly, and Dawn drew her katana again. With a yell, the four of them charged forwards at the Kelzaks, but they were soon overwhelmed by the amount there were, and they started to get weakened.

"Blake, we gotta help them," Hunter insisted, turning to face his brother.

"I'm all over it, bro," Blake with agreement, ready to battle. "Let's do this!"

"Not so fast!" Choobo cut in, jumping off the cliff ledge, and landing on his feet in front of Hunter and Blake. "Listen to me, Crimson Ranger, your brother has betrayed you."

Hunter shook his head, clearly unconvinced by the alien. "That's crazy!"

Suddenly, a beam shot down from the sky. Hunter caught sight of the beam, and pushed Blake away before it could hit him. Blake watched as the beam hit Hunter, causing his visor for glow. All he knew was that whatever that beam was for, it couldn't end well.

"Are you okay, dude?" Blake asked on instinct, placing his hand on Hunter's shoulder..

"I don't know; I think so," Hunter shook his head while staring down at the ground, not realizing his visor glowed again. "I kinda feel weird..."

"Here's the real deal, you can't trust your brother anymore," Choobo spoke up again, speaking directly to Hunter after he was shot. "That pretty blue ranger has convinced him to join up with them!"

"What are you going on about?" Blake shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Choobo. "I'd never turn on my brother; you're the one with the evil plan!"

"Tell him the truth," Choobo continued to lie through his mouth. "He deserves to know that you've betrayed him and your poor lost parents."

Blake finally realized what the beam had been for; it was the same mind control beam that he and Hunter had gotten caught in last time. Instead of trying to turn them against the Wind Rangers, they were being turned against each other. "Hunter, don't listen to him," Blake tried to tell his brother. "It's all a bunch of lies; he's trying to destroy us."

"My own brother..." Hunter growled, his visor glowing again.

Hunter's fists clenched with anger, and he raised his Thunder Staff, bringing it down on Blake's chest, and causing the navy ranger to fall down.

"What's the matter with you?" Blake cried, stumbling back on his feet again while trying to snap Hunter out of it. "Have you lost your ninja mind?!"

"You don't deserve to call yourself a Thunder Ranger," Hunter sneered down at him, raising his staff again. "You traitor!"

Before Hunter could attack Blake again, Dawn got in between the two brothers and blocked the staff with her own katana. "Hunter, that's enough!"

Even though she had no problem fighting against the Thunder Rangers, she had seen their reactions earlier when they snapped out of it. They had seemed honestly confused with what had happened, and looked as if they regretted what they did. That was all Dawn needed to realized they weren't the bad guys, they had merely been victims of Lothor's plot. With that in mind, she planned to do whatever it took to make sure Hunter was right in his mind again.

"This doesn't concern you," Hunter snapped, his attitude towards her becoming cold and harsh again. "This is between me and Blake."

"Blake is your brother," Dawn tried to remind him, ignoring his warning towards her. "Give me one good reason why he would even want to betray you."

However, Hunter ignored Dawn too, and smacked her away with his staff. Dawn grunted when she hit the ground, rolling to the side. Her head lifted up, and she watched helplessly while Hunter kept repeatedly attacked Blake.

Meanwhile, the Wind Rangers were still fighting against Kelzaks and Toxipod. "Dude, why do you have to be so crabby?" Dustin snapped at the alien, only to be thrown to the ground afterwards.

While battling, Tori caught sight of something emerge from between the rocks of the island. "What's that?"

"Toxic smoke," Toxipod answered in his raspy voice with a cackle. "The island is sinking fast; soon the Earth will be one big snow cone, and you can't do a thing about it!"

"Wanna bet?" Shane challenged, resuming his fight against some of the Kelzaks.

The Wind Rangers disappeared together, leaving the Kelzaks momentarily confused; until Shane reappeared, and kicked one of them onto the rocks, where the toxic smoke was spouting out from. The Kelzak seemed to squirm with his face pressed against the steam, until it began to melt part of its face, causing it to get coated in green slime. Shane, Tori, and Dustin watched with some confusion, as the Kelzak screeched and began wildly attacking several of the other Kelzaks that approached it.

"Wait, I get it," Tori began to realize, watching the fight in front of them. "It's fighting because of the steam! That's what's making it angry; the smoke must be poisonous, or something."

"Hmm, weird," Dustin commented, shaking his head slightly.

"What's taking so long?" Choobo spoke up, turning to look at Toxipod. "Finish off those rangers so we can take control of the planet!"

"Yes, General!" Toxipod nodded in affirmation, before charging at the rangers.

Blake and Dawn were still fighting against Hunter, but they were mostly defense, and struggled to avoid Hunter's attack while not hurting him at the same time. Dawn was off to the side, laying on her stomach and trying to get up, while Blake had been pinned down underneath Hunter.

"Now you'll pay!" Hunter raised his staff, pointing the tip downwards at Blake. "You brought this on yourself, Blake."

"Stop this!" Dawn cried, unable to stand for the moment, and resorted to using her words in an attempt to convince Hunter again. "You're not thinking straight!"

"Bro, this isn't you!" Blake tried to insist, making no attempt to move against the staff pointed directly at him. "You got zapped with that beam, remember?"

Hunter slowly and hesitantly began to lower his staff, becoming confused all over again. "But, I-"

"Hunter, please," Blake spoke up again, refraining from using a loud voice against his brother this time. "You know the truth; you gotta remember."

Just as Hunter seemed to snap out of it, toxic smoke sprayed out from between some rocks near them. Blake managed to roll out of the way, and so had Dawn, but it was too late for Hunter. The smoke had sprayed him right in the face, and it quickly engulfed him.

"Agh! What's happening to me?!" He cried out in pain, trying to move, but the most he could do was tense up. As he screamed, the smoke melted the surface of his helmet, which was now coated in green slime like the Kelzak's head was.

Blake tried to yell for his brother to get away from there, but it was no use. Dawn was now on her knees, and stood up weakly while watching with horror.

When the smoke finally evaporated away, Hunter fell to his knees and breathed heavily. Lifting his head up, he caught sight of Blake again, and a wave of anger and fury hit him; the smoke enhancing his rage now. He managed to get back onto his feet again, and slowly raised his Thunder Staff.

"This is the end, Blake!" He yelled with a struggled voice, then charged forwards with a yell.

Shane, Tori, and Dustin ran over, and in an attempt to help, they tried their best to hold back Hunter from attacking Blake again. "Don't hurt him!" Blake tried to tell the three rangers.

"We're not trying to!" Tori exclaimed, struggling to hold back the enraged ranger, until Hunter finally broke free from them.

With a wild yell, Hunter slashed the Wind Rangers with his Thunder Staff, causing them to stagger back with pain. "Come on, Hunter!" Blake exclaimed, grabbing his brother's shoulder. "You're stronger than this!"

"Traitor!" Hunter ignored Blake, slashing him multiple times with his staff.

"Think about what we've been through; this isn't you!" Blake insisted, but Hunter just charged at him again, and eventually pinned him to the ground. "Hunter, you have to stop!"

"Get off him!"

Dawn had finally managed to recover, then using her sword, she slashed Hunter's back. The crimson ranger winced and dropped onto his knee, before Dawn kicked him down and quickly helped Blake up. The two of them limped towards the Wind Rangers to regroup with them, then Shane stepped forwards.

"This has gone far enough; Ninja Smoke Screen!" Shane called, creating a smoke screen.

Once the smoke had cleared out, the five of them had vanished, and all that was left was an enraged Hunter in pain.

* * *

After the battle, the Wind Rangers had un-morphed, and now they were helping Blake and Dawn towards a cave so they could all recover. After all, Blake had taken the biggest beating, but Dawn still had the most injuries. Tori and Dustin had Blake's arms wrapped over the back of their necks when they dragged him inside, but Blake was unconscious and still morphed. Dawn was limping behind them while holding onto her side, but Shane held her arm over the back of his neck so he was supporting her.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Dustin asked, looking down at Blake once he and Tori had set his body on the sand.

"He was in his ranger form, so the damage shouldn't be too bad," Dawn spoke up, removing her arm from Shane's neck as he helped her sit against a wall, and she winced slightly. Out of all the others, she honestly looked the most beaten up because she didn't have a ranger suit to protect her. "I know I look bad too, but I promise I'll heal in a few minutes."

Tori knelt down by Blake's side, a worried look crossing her face. "Blake? Wake up! Please, wake up," She spoke quietly, her hands hovering over his body, but she seemed hesitant to touch him, until Blake's body was surrounded by blue electricity. "Wait, what's happening to him?"

They all staggered back away from Blake at first, until they realized Blake had just un-morphed when his ranger suit disappeared, and he was back in his ninja uniform. Tori moved closer to him again and placed her hand on Blake's shoulder, causing him to jerk awake.

"It's alright," She tried to calm him down, and gave him a comforting smile when he let out a big sigh. "You're alright..."

Sometime later, all of them were standing near a cliff ledge on the same island. They were all sitting on the grass, except for Blake, who stared over the ocean in deep thought for a moment. He and Dawn had both recovered, thankfully, and Shane, Tori, and Dustin had gotten done recapping Blake on what had happened from their point of view.

"Hunter's the only family I have; he's always been there for me-now, he needs my help," Blake spoke up, his arms crossed while he gazed at the waves of the ocean, before he turned around and looked back down at the others. "For the first time in our lives, he needs me this time; and not gonna let him down."

"We'll do whatever we can to help." Tori promised him.

"I had you guys completely wrong; you or Hunter never had true intentions on battling them or me earlier," Dawn nodded too, gazing up at Blake with a serious and straight look on her face. "I'll help too. I'll do the best that I can."

Blake nodded with appreciation at them, then looked back down at Shane. "Shane, that wasn't us back there," He spoke honestly to him. "You have to believe me.

"I know, and I do believe you; I should've known all along," Shane assured Blake, admitting his mistakes, but he was determined to fix them. "We're there for you."

* * *

**Wow, once again, this was pretty long.**

**I also got a couple of reviews for the first chapter concerning Cam and Dawn's relationship in this story. I know in the original story, they had just been friends, except for when I made Hunter and Cam get affected by the love potion in that one chapter and both fall in love with Dawn. **

**Just know that I never had any intention on creating a love triangle, and minus the love potion episode, I still don't intend on it for this story. **

**However, I do intend on going a little more in detail on Dawn's friendship with Cam. I'm giving them a back story, some it will be inspired by Rebekah and Marcel's history during Marcel's childhood in CW's The Originals. Some of that is going to be happening at the end of the next chapter. **

**Most likely though, Cam and Dawn will end up having a close sibling-like bond at the end of the story, just to clear the confusion.**


	3. Return of Thunder III

**Hello Everyone!**

**So, I'm trying my best to get a bit more of this story pre-planned out, and I was thinking on doing at the very least one chapter for each of the rangers that will incorporate Dawn's type of friendship with them. Of course they won't be centered all around Dawn and the character, but Dawn will be included somehow interacted with the character**

**All the episodes listed, of course, initially focused on one ranger, but we don't exactly want to read a whole novelization of the series. ****Here are the episodes I had in mind, and they'll be in chronological order:**

**Cam - **Return of Thunder IV, The Samurai's Journey trilogy, I Love Lothor**  
****Tori - **Pork Chopped**(maybe)**, Wild Wipeout  
**Hunter - **Pork Chopped, I Love Lothor, Brother in Arms**(maybe),** A Gem of a Day  
**Dustin - **All About Beevil  
**Shane - **Shane's Karma**  
Blake - **Double-Edged Blake**  
**

**I haven't completely figured out how to fit Dawn into a couple of them just yet, but if everything goes as planned, hopefully I'll figure it out. I just have to re-watch some of the episodes and get a refresher on what happened during them.**

**I'm still debating on whether or not to use all of the remaining episodes in the show after the Return of Thunder saga (the filler ones, like Sensei Switcheroo, or Good Will Hunter) since I didn't use all of the episodes my original, but I'm an impatient writer sometimes, and it's interesting writing the chapters that are more important to the main plot.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter :) I apologize that it's really long again :/ Hope you guys enjoy, and please review!**

**I do not own Power Rangers**

* * *

The five ninjas walked across the beach shore, glancing outwards at the ocean, as waves rolled in and the wind blew around them. They were all still stuck on the island, and neither of them had run into Hunter yet. "Is it me, or is it starting to get seriously cold?" Dustin spoke up, rubbing his arms and looking around.

"Yeah, most of the time, I'd say it was just you;" Shane turned his head to look at Dustin, until he shivered slightly under his jacket. "But it is definitely starting to get cold."

"I'd really like to know why we can morph, but we can't reach Ninja Ops," Tori thought out loud, wondering to herself. "If our morpher signals are cut off, why can we still morph into our ranger suits?"

"The morphers' signal to Ninja Ops may be cut off, but not their connection with the Morphing Grid; that's what allows you guys to morph," Dawn explained to her. She had picked up a few things about the Power Rangers before coming to Blue Bay Harbor; she wanted to make sure she had her facts straight about them. "Unless there's something wrong with the Grid, or something directly cutting you guys off from it, then that's when the morphers will stop working."

Shane shook his head slightly. "Well thanks for the Morphing Grid 101, but unless you can tell us where we are, I don't think anything else is important right now," He told her, making her roll her eyes slightly.

"Vertigo Island," Blake spoke up and answered.

Immediately, Shane, Tori, Dustin, and Dawn slowed down to a stop, and looked directly over at Blake. The navy ranger realized the others had stopped, then slowed down too, and looked back at them. "What?" He asked, not realizing what he had said that was wrong.

"Anything else you'd like to share with the group?" Shane asked rhetorically, wondering what else he knew.

"You don't wanna know," Blake shook his head in response, looking back at Shane. "Trust me."

"Trust us," Tori crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes slightly at him. "We do."

"Blake," Dawn spoke up, looking directly at him. "If you want us to trust you, you have to be honest with us. What is Vertigo Island?"

Blake seemed hesitant to answer this time, but he realized that Dawn was right, so with that in mind, he began talking. "I heard Lothor talking to his pals before he sent Hunter and me back to Earth," He started, facing the four of them now. "This place doesn't exist on any map; it rises from the sea once every two hundred years or something."

"And then what?" Dustin asked, fearing for the rest of the information.

"Well, that's the part that's kinda harsh...let's just say, another two hundred years are gonna start up again, and soon."

The others' eyes widened in realization at what Blake meant. "-you're telling us that this whole place is sinking back into the ocean?" Tori realized, becoming somewhat panicked again.

Blake just let out a small sigh, and nodded once. "I told you that you wouldn't want to know."

"Let's focus on getting to higher ground for now," Shane decided to change the subject, trying to push the possibility of all of them drowning on a sinking island out of his mind. "Come on."

* * *

They began to make their way away from the beach, and started hiking upwards. Within time, they reached the top of one of the hills, then decided to rest near a tall grassy area. After all, they had been walking non-stop for almost an hour now. "Is anyone else worried that we haven't seen Hunter for hours?" Dustin asked, using a long branch like a hiking stick, then setting it down when he sat on top of a grassy patch.

"Now that you mention it, we haven't seen him, have we?" Dawn realized, turning her head around and looking for any sign of something crimson-colored. "I can see how that might be a bad thing..."

"I can't; I could use a little break from getting beaten up," Shane shook his head with a look of relief on his face, but Blake turned and looked at him with his eyes narrowed slightly at him. "No offense, but your brother isn't exactly playing well with others these days."

"Look, Hunter's a great ranger," Blake stated, defending his brother's name. "One day, you're all gonna be glad he's got those powers."

"Sure," Shane scoffed slightly. "The day he stops using them on us."

Tori sat down next to Dustin, and hugged her knee towards her chest. "How did you get them anyway?" She asked Blake, curiously, and then clarified for him. "Your powers; you guys never told us how any of that happened."

"It's a long story," Blake crossed his arms, glancing down at Tori. "Do you really wanna hear it?"

"It's either that, or watch Dustin play in the dirt." Shane pointed out with a small chuckle, watching as Dustin drew in the dirt with his stick. Dustin heard this, causing him to roll his eyes, before throwing the stick to the side.

Blake looked back and forth between each of them, then he finally gave in and started explaining. "Sensei Omino is the one who taught our parents the way of the Thunder Ninja." He started. "After they passed away, he brought us to the Thunder Academy; helped us get through everything."

_A young Hunter and Blake stood in the center of the field at the Thunder Academy, practicing their jabs while Sensei Omino observed them both. Blake was only twelve, but Hunter had just turned fourteen. _

_Being there at the academy, learning the way of the ninja and training; that was how they managed to cope with their parents' deaths. Their training was what helped them push through the tragedy._

_They both finished their jabs, and held their arms out, allowing them to rest. Sensei Omino then approached Blake and fixed his hand, which was clenched in a fist, then made sure his two index fingers were pointed upwards. Blake looked up at Omino, and then gave him a small nod of assurance that he understood._

_With their lesson over, Hunter and Blake began running back into the academy, jumping over a small shrub to get back._

"We felt like we belonged again," Blake continued with his story. "We both did really well in our training. Sensei Omino was training us for something, we both could feel it; but, we didn't know what."

"So that's when Lothor showed up," Dawn managed to piece together.

Blake nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, our school was attacked; Kelzaks and aliens everywhere..."

_It was the day of the invasion of the Thunder Academy. The academy signs were on fire, and one of the students was thrown into one of them. Lothor's generals fought against the ninja students with ease, and so did the army of Kelzaks._

_Hunter and Blake were wearing their ninjas masks, and they tried to help Sensei Omino away from the battle site, just as an explosion went off in the distance behind them. In Omino's arms was a small wooden box._

_Once they were away a safe distance from most of the fighting, Omino opened the box to reveal the two Thunder Morphers for the brothers, causing their eyes to widen with some shock._

"Sensei gave us our morphers; he told us we would know what to do- only at that moment, he got captured by Lothor; and eventually we got captured too."

_Hunter and Blake quickly strapped their morphers onto their wrists, but before they had a chance to do anything, Zurgane appeared and powered up a containment ball in his hand._

_"Go!" Omino pushed the boys away, just before the ball was fired at him, and he was sent up into Lothor's ship._

_A group of Kelzaks grabbed Hunter and Blake to prevent them from escaping, just as two more bubbles were fired that contained them, and carried them away._

_"Sensei!"_

"-when you go in those ball things, what does it feel like?" Dustin interrupted, using his hands to make gestures too. "Is it cool? Is it like going off a freestyle ramp?"

The others just stared oddly at Dustin for a moment, while Blake shook his head and crossed his arms. "Hardly the point, dude," Shane said, raising his eyebrow at the yellow ranger.

"Oh, right- no sorry," Dustin apologized, realizing it was probably the wrong time to ask. "Uh, continue, Blake."

"Once we got on Lothor's ship, he was pretty tweaked that the Ranger powers passed onto us," Blake continued, then recalling how angry that he and his brother had been when they believed what Lothor had told them. "That's when he told us the lie about our parents."

"Then that's when you went all medieval on us, right?" Shane made the inference once Blake was finished telling his story.

"Let's not go there," Tori shook her head, not enjoying the memory.

"I'd like to know why you guys believed Lothor in the first place," Dawn crossed her arms, looking at him. "I'm pretty sure it would've seemed obvious that he was responsible for attacking the school; plus, why would you guys trust the man that kidnapped your Sensei?"

"When Hunter and I were in those bubbles, we could barely make out anything around us. Lothor insisted that he had saved us, and all the students had been taken by someone else; we didn't even know they were being stored on the same ship with us," Blake tried to explain to them. "You have to understand, though; Hunter's a good person, but if he believes someone's wronged him, he won't stop until he makes it right."

"Okay, we get that," Dustin nodded, already understanding that part. "But why is he taking it out on us?"

"Choobo used some mind erase thing on us to make us think you were our enemies," Blake gestured slightly with his hands.

"How come you weren't affected?" Shane asked curiously.

"It wore off on both of us the first time, but after that, another beam was shot down, and it only hit Hunter," Blake remembered when the beam had hit his brother, then his gaze shifted over towards Tori, and he smiled slightly. "Plus, I had a little more help remembering."

Tori smiled back at him, and then stood up. She walked over to Blake's side, and looked back at the rest of her teammates. "Then that's what Hunter needs," She decided. "Come on, we better go find him."

"Hold on," Shane interrupted, holding his hand up slightly to stop Tori before she could walk away. "While we're on the subject of stories, I wanna know Dawn's," He decided, pointing over at the girl.

"I don't think now would be the best time for me to explain everything," Dawn shook her head, trying to avoid the topic for now. "I mean, we're kind of on a sinking island; we don't have much time to waste."

"All the more reason for you to explain to us," Shane disagreed with her. "Like you said, the island's sinking; if we die here, I'd like to know who you really are, at least."

Dawn looked back and forth at the others, who were all genuinely curious about her identity too. "What do you want to know?" She gave in eventually.

"Let's start with how you were able for fire those energy blasts in civilian form," Blake suggested, remembering their battle earlier. "I didn't think there was an element that could be learned with that ability."

"Because there isn't an element with that ability; not any element that's taught," Dawn shook her head. "My powers come from a power disc; Lothor wants it, but it's my job to protect it and keep it hidden from him."

"The one on your bracelet," Tori realized, staring down at the power disc that was attached to the front of Dawn's metal wristband.

"No offense, but it doesn't seem all that well-hidden," Dustin pointed out.

"This one is actually a decoy. It's powerless," Dawn informed him, pointing at the disc on top of her wristband. "The real one is hidden somewhere Lothor would never expect to look."

All of a sudden, a small circle glowed a dim white in the center of Dawn's forehead, causing the rangers to react with some shock. "The disc is in your head," Shane realized.

Dawn nodded once, just as the glow stopped. "My mother cast a spell to put it in me; I'm the disc's seal," She stated. "The disc's power has allowed me to live for a long time...500 years now, to be exact."

The rangers' eyes widened with shock again. "500 years?!"

"Whoa, dude, you're old," Dustin awed for a moment, before realizing what he had said. "I-I mean, you look pretty good for someone ancient, though. You look great for 500."

"So why does Lothor want the disc from you?" Tori asked with interest, also taking some blame off of Dustin. "Is it even possible to draw it out from your head?"

Dawn took a few seconds to think over her answer. "My power disc can unlock a second weapon that Lothor needs to succeed with his plans. Only the disc that can unlock the first weapon is capable of drawing the one out of my head," She explained to them. "As far as I know, Lothor doesn't possess the first disc; he doesn't even know I'm the seal, and I intend to keep it that way."

"So, you're a 500 year old keeper of a powerful weapon, basically?" Shane summed up, then held his arm out slightly. "Anything else we should know?"

"...I don't show emotion," Dawn decided to tell them, causing them to look at her with a bit of disbelief and confusion. "Well, of course I'm capable of having emotions; I just choose not to show them."

"Why not?" Tori asked her.

"Again, it's to do with my powers," Dawn sighed in response. "They get weakened with my sadness, and during my time alive, I've found it easier to just hide my emotions than prevent myself from feeling just one. It's better this way for me..."

Blake blinked once at her. "So what you told my brother earlier, how you just faked being nice for him; that's why?"

"I did it to protect him; and that's why I'm telling you guys," Dawn crossed her arms. "Look, I can see you're all pretty close to each other. You're all friends, but don't try to include me in that. I'm just here to assist you against fighting Lothor. I'll play nice, I promise; but after that, I'm leaving, and you can all forget you ever met me."

The rangers exchanged glances with each other. Sure, they had expected something complicated that explained Dawn's powers, but not any of that.

"Anyway, you got your answers," Dawn spoke up again. "Now like I said before, we're running out of time. If we want to find Hunter and get off this island, we have to do it now."

"Right," Shane nodded, and with that, the five of them began searching again.

* * *

It had been almost an hour since they all finished up their little 'story time', yet still, none of them were eve close to finding Hunter. They walked across a rocky shore, and began to notice that there was smoke leaking from almost every crevice on the island now. All six of them were coughing now.

"Dude, this island reeks!" Dustin complained, wrinkling his nose while his eyes watered.

"We're running out of time; this island is sinking fast," Dawn realized, whipping her head around and trying to keep an eye out for anything. "We need to find Hunter, now!"

Blake covered his mouth with his sleeve while he coughed, until he heard a groan in the distance. "Guys, check it out!" He pointed, seeing Hunter, still in his ranger form, roll down a slope with confusion. "Come on!"

Hunter groaned as he stumbled back onto his feet, and judging by the tone of his voice, he was still under the effect of the smoke and control beam. "Blake!" He growled out, trying to look for the navy ranger.

Just before the rangers could get to him, several lasers were fired at the ground in front of them, and Toxipod appeared through the smoke. "You guys better bail, cause I'm one bad snail!" He cackled, stepping forwards.

"If you're a snail, how come you look more like a crab?" Dustin taunted the monster with a slight grin of amusement.

"Crab, snail; whatever!" Toxipod growled with irritation, then fired a blast in their direction.

Luckily the five ninjas flipped backwards just in time, and avoided getting hit. The four rangers stood a step forwards again, and exchanged glances. "Time to plug this slug." Dustin decided, narrowing his eyes at Toxipod.

Shane looked at his teammates, knowing what was coming next. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Ninja Storm,"

"Thunder Storm,"

"Ranger Form, Ha!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Air!"

"Water!"

"Power of Thunder!"

Dawn watched as the rangers morphed, while she drew her sword again and held it up, prepared to fight. The Wind Rangers drew their own ninja swords, and Blake summoned his Navy Antler weapon.

"I can take you all!" Toxipod clenched his fist, and charged forwards at them.

"Dream on, Snail Trail!" Blake refused, and with that, they all charged back at him. "Ninja Shadow Battle!"

In a series of quick attacks, each ninja managed to get a hit on Toxipod, until Blake grabbed him by the waist with his Navy Antler, which was charged up with blue electricity. "Where's Hunter?!" Blake demanded to know, while Toxipod got electrocuted by the lightning.

"Why do you care?" Toxipod shook his head, yelling through the pain. "You'll never get off this island!"

"Never is a long time!" Blake raised his hand, and tossed Toxipod over his head.

The monster squirmed on the ground, just as the Wind Rangers put together the Storm Striker. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" Each ranger called, then Shane pulled the trigger and fired a large blast of energy forwards.

Toxipod screamed as he fell down, then as soon as he hit the ground, he exploded in a fire. With that over, Blake sighed to himself, regrouping with the others again.

"Is everyone okay?" Dawn asked, approaching the scene again, and everyone nodded in response.

"Hold on," Blake stopped them, trying to look around again. "Where's Hunter? Did we lose him again?"

Shane turned his head, and soon caught sight of the crimson ranger stumble forwards angrily to them. "Look!" He pointed behind Blake. "He's over there."

Hunter growled the moment he saw them all, and continued making his way over to them. The Wind Rangers tried to run in front and stop him, but Hunter just shoved each of them away, and went straight to attacking Blake.

"Hunter, snap out of it!" Blake tried to tell Hunter, but he just kept getting hit with the Thunder Staff. "Listen to me!"

"Liar..." Hunter grunted out, shoving Blake away. "No more lies!"

"Blake needs us," Shane realized, just as he and his teammates began to run forwards at them, until all of a sudden, Choobo ran in front to stop them.

"Not so fast," Choobo interrupted. "I wanna play!"

Hunter raised his staff again and brought it down, while Blake used his arms to block the hit. "Hunter, you gotta trust me," Blake struggled, until Hunter kicked his leg, and he fell with his back on the ground. "Hunter, please!"

Things weren't looking too well for the Wind Rangers either, as Choobo slashed each of them across their chests with his staff. When Dawn charged over to help, she got engaged in a sword fight with Choobo, until he eventually managed to get her katana out of her hand and shove her on the ground.

"You betrayed me," Hunter seethed, his staff pressed against Blake's shoulder. "Now you'll pay for your betrayal!"

"It was Choobo and Lothor! They betrayed us," Blake insisted, starting to panic in his mind. "Think, Hunter, think!"

Hunter continued to glare down at Blake, until all of a sudden, he remembered when he and Blake were taken for the second time on Lothor's ship, then got blasted with the beam. He shook his head in real life, getting confused and angered by the sudden wave of memories, including when he had seen his parents' ghosts in the cave.

"Think, Hunter, think!" Blake tried to insist again. "You're under some kind of spell- you're my brother!"

"You're confusing me!" Hunter breathed heavily, his mind too crowded to try and think, before he raised his staff again. "...I don't have a brother!"

Before he could bring down his staff, a blast of white energy hit Hunter and knocked him off of Blake, causing him to roll to the side. Blake turned his head, and saw Dawn standing there at the side with her hand raised.

"You can thank me later," She spoke, lowering her hand again, and swallowing. "Just knock some sense into him soon."

As she spoke to him, Blake noticed the expression on her face. It wasn't a neutral look like she normally had; it was a look of worry, for both him and Hunter. Even though she didn't have to say or show it, he knew she cared.

Blake watched as Dawn rejoined the Wind Rangers in their battle again, then he clenched his fists and stood up slowly. "Alright, looks like it's time for some tough love," He decided, drawing his Thunder Staff from his back now, and battling against Hunter.

After a couple of slashes, Blake pinned Hunter to the ground with his staff. "Now you're gonna listen, and you're gonna listen good!" He exclaimed, kneeling over his brother. "Your name is Hunter! You're my brother...come on, man, shake it off!"

"No, you're lying to me," Hunter still refused to believe. "I know the truth!"

Hunter grabbed Blake by the shoulders and threw him over himself. He sat up slowly, then began to clench his helmet in his hands. "Something's wrong...my head-!" He growled out, standing upwards, as his staff fell out from his hands.

A wave of old memories hit Hunter instantly; most of them consisting of times spent with Blake. He remembered his training sessions as a kid back at the Thunder Academy, how Sensei Omino trained him and his brother together. And then when they both came to Blue Bay Harbor, how they met the Wind Rangers- even though they were supposed to betray them, they ended up becoming some of their greatest friends. Finally, he remembered his meeting with Dawn. How she smiled when they talked to each other, and that even though their conversation was short and she had him convinced that it meant nothing to her, it still meant something to him. He was still willing to get to know her.

At last, the memories stopped, and Hunter turned around to face Blake, before de-morphing from weakness. "I remember," He breathed heavily, until his knees finally gave out, and he dropped forwards onto the sand.

Blake's visor opened up, and then he de-morphed too by choice. "Hunter!"

Choobo caught sight of this, and turned his attention away from the Wind Rangers to the two brothers. "Oh no, you don't!"

"Oh yes, he does!" Shane raised his sword, along with his teammates.

The three Wind Rangers flipped through the air, and once they landed on their feet again, they slashed Choobo together.

"Ninja Sword, Power Up!" Shane called, charging up his ninja sword with energy, and then bringing it down on Choobo.

Choobo yelled out in pain and staggered backwards from the hit, while the Wind Rangers cheered and high-fived. "I'll be back, rangers!" He shook his staff at them, then turned around and tried to look for where to go. "...uh, how do I get out of here?!"

"Hey!" Dustin called, but Choobo ran away before anything could be done about it.

"Time to make like a banana, and split!" Choobo exclaimed, before vanished back to Lothor's ship.

The Wind Rangers regrouped together, and pressed a button on their morpher together. "Ninja Form!" They called, de-morphing at the same time, while Dawn joined their side too.

"Guess Choobo didn't feel like sticking around for an encore," Tori smiled with some amusement.

"Yeah, and that crab is toast," Shane nodded, grinning with satisfaction.

"Why do I have a sudden craving for seafood?" Dustin spoke up, rubbing his belly.

The others stared oddly at him for a second, even though they were used to his random comments. Dawn just shook her head, until she saw the two Thunder Ninjas over by the side, then pointed over at them. "Hey, there's Hunter and Blake!"

Blake knelt over Hunter, who still looked like he was out cold on the sand. "No, come on!" He started to panic, holding onto Hunter's collar while trying to shake him awake. "Stay with me, bro!"

"Dude," Hunter managed to choke out, his face looking red. "I kinda need to breathe at some point!"

Blake realized his error and removed his hands from his collar, until he realized Hunter been mostly kidding, so then he laughed with some relief, and held out his hand to help Hunter sit up. The others had run over to them, and Hunter's gaze moved upwards so he saw them too.

"Well, he's back to being Hunter," Tori noticed, realizing the toxic smoke had worn off of him.

"Yeah, but good Hunter or bad Hunter?" Dustin asked, exchanging glances with the others.

Shane looked back down at Hunter; his eyebrows furrowed together slightly, and hoping for a good answer. "Do you know who we are?"

"Yeah," Hunter nodded once, giving them a small smile of gratitude. "My friends."

* * *

Hunter had managed to recover within a few minutes, and even though they were all glad they truly had him back, they were still stuck on the island. They had to think fast if they didn't all want to drown.

Almost as if on cue, Shane's morpher beeped, and he instantly raised it towards his mouth, but hesitated for a second. "-is that you Cam?"

"_No, it's the phone company," _Cam's familiar, sarcastic voice rang through the morpher._ "I'm calling to see if you have any long distance service."_

At the moment, though, the rangers didn't care for Cam's sarcasm; they were just glad to be in touch with him and Ninja Ops again.

"Is he always this, uh, funny?" Hunter asked, chuckling slightly at Cam's words.

"Not always," Shane shook his head with a small smile, before going back to his morpher again. "We're alright, Cam; thanks for asking."

"_Are the Thunder Rangers with you?"_ A different voice spoke this time.

Even though he knew they couldn't see them, Shane nodded anyway. "They're right here, Sensei."

"_Excellent. I must speak to them upon your return._"

"_This brings up our next problem," _Cam spoke up again. "_You're on an island that's sinking fast; you've gotta find a way off."_

Dustin scratched the back of his neck slightly, trying to think. "Well, how about the, uh, the gliders?"

"_The atmospheric pressure is too unstable right now; it wouldn't be safe."_

"What about the zords?" Blake asked instead.

"_Good idea, Blake," _Sensei spoke up again.

With that, they heard Cam typing away on the keyboard. "_They're on their way; I just have to check their structural integrity to make certain they can stand the water pressure."_

"We'll be ready," Shane assured him, before cutting the connection, and then turning to Dawn. "You're gonna have to ride in the Storm Megazord with us; I think there's enough room in the Hawk Zord cockpit."

"As long as we get back home, I don't care how we have to do it," Dawn gave him a small nod. "It's fine with me,"

Shane nodded back at her, then faced the others afterwards. "Okay, let's do this-"

"Wait!" Hunter interrupted, causing everyone to stop and look directly at him. "I just wanted to say it means a lot; the way you stood up for me."

"Hey, that's what friends do," Shane assured him, then focused on the others too again. "So before this turns into a group hug, we better go."

The remaining five ninjas nodded in affirmation at Shane, before they all started walking towards the shoreline. However, a giant scroll appeared in the air above them, and once it flashed out of sight, a giant Toxipod appeared in its place.

"Go big or go home!"

The rangers staggered back at first, and then Shane looked at them. "You guys ready for this?"

"Ready," Tori and Dustin nodded in confirmation, and Shane looked back at the Thunder Rangers for their answer.

Hunter nodded too, and gave him a slight grin. "Ready."

"Ninja Storm,"

"Thunder Storm,"

"Ranger Form, Ha!"

"Ninja Ranger Power!"

Shane raised his morpher back to his mouth. "Hey Cam, how about those zords?"

"_On their way,"_ Cam's voice responded, hitting the large button on his keyboard.

Within seconds, the rangers spotted the zords make their way over the ocean and to the shoreline. "Alright, let's do this!" Shane announced, before all the rangers streaked into their individual zords.

Dawn followed and streaked into the Hawk Zord with Shane. Soon, the Storm Megazord and Thunder Megazords were formed, and they stood side-by-side together, ready to battle.

"Hey, rangers!" Toxipod called over to provoke them, then laughed. "You're gonna be sorry that you ever crossed my snail trail!"

He blew fire out of his mouth that hit the ground surrounding the megazords, causing them to slowly burn up.

"Dude, it's starting to get hot!" Dustin cried seeing the flames below. "Like, Africa hot!"

"Where's the AC on this thing?" Tori's eyes scanned the button panel in her cockpit.

Dawn's head turned over to the side of the window, where she could see the Thunder Megazord in the distance. "Are you guys okay over there?"

"Yeah," Hunter nodded once, looking back over at the Storm Megazord through his own window. "Don't worry."

"We can take the heat," Blake assured her.

"Then let's go for a little spin," Shane decided.

Soon, both megazords started spinning in circles quickly, and even though it made them all momentarily dizzy, the spinning created a strong wind that managed to extinguish the flames. Once they finished, they both stood properly again, and got ready for the battle.

"Spin Blade!" Hunter called, loading a power disk and activating the Spin Blade.

"Lightning mode, engaged!" Shane called, activating the Storm Megazord's lightning mode and making it slimmer.

Toxipod charged forwards at the megazords, until the Thunder slashed him with the Spin Blade a couple of times, and delivered a final slash. The Storm jumped and used the Thunder's shoulder as their lift, then fired themselves at Toxipod and used the hand blades to slash through him this time. Once the Storm Megazord landed back on its feet, Toxipod erupted into a fiery death.

"Now that's what I call a crab feast," Shane clapped his hands, proud of their win.

"All you can eat," Tori chuckled a little to her.

"Detonation of the Crustation!" Dustin exclaimed in addition.

Dawn just rolled her eyes. "Puns? Really, guys?" She raised her eyebrows at them all, but secretly, she was glad they had won too.

"Hey, we never said anything," Hunter raised his hands in innocence.

Blake moved his screen away from his face. "Well, the important thing is, we're going home!"

The rangers cheered together, and with that, the two megazords began to walk through the ocean and back to the direction of Blue Bay Harbor, while the island behind them sunk back into the waters.

* * *

Once all of them were off the island, they arrived at Ninja Ops, where Cam and Sensei were waiting. Luckily, the temperature in the city had returned to normal, and it was no longer snowing. Sensei was busy talking to Hunter and Blake, so Shane, Tori, Dustin, and Dawn went to go see Cam in the main Ninja Ops room. Dawn stood by the doorway, and watched as the others talked with Cam.

Cam's gaze shifted forwards as soon as he spotted her by the door, and memories of his past flashed in his mind. "Dawn?"

Dawn looked up when she heard Cam call her name, ignoring the confused looks from the other rangers. "Cameron," She realized, then nodded once and gave him a small smile. "It's good to see you again after so long."

"Wait," Tori interrupted, looking back and forth between the two of them. "You guys know each other?"

"This isn't the first time I've been to Blue Bay Harbor; I visited six years ago, and I stayed at the Wind Academy during that time," Dawn started to explained to them, leaving the doorway and approaching them. "I met Cameron there when he was a young boy."

"It's Cam now, actually," He corrected her quickly. He didn't sound rude while he did it, though; if anything, he seemed a little embarrassed to see her again.

Shane seemed to sense the tension going on between the two of them. "Okay, something tells me that can't just be it," He shook his head slightly. "What else happened?"

Dawn glanced back at Cam, as if to ask who would tell them, until Cam finally gave in and sighed. "Dawn stayed at the academy for a couple of weeks," He continued. "The next thing I know, we're talking to each other and she's helping me train..."

The two of them then began to reminisce on the time when Dawn had visited before.

_"You finish off with the sword pointing down, like this," Dawn demonstrated the final position, her wooden training katana in her hand, and pointing downwards. "See?"_

_An 11-year-old Cam nodded in response, and copied her pose. "Good," Dawn stepped back and looked down at him. "Now, try the whole routine."_

_Dawn watched carefully as Cam attempted his best to do the katana routine she had taught him with his own wooden training sword. _

_On her first day visiting the Wind Academy, she had noticed Cam skipping rocks alone by the lake. As the next couple of days went by, she saw the same thing. Cam would've either been alone by the lake, or following his dad around the academy; he didn't seem to have many friends. Dawn knew loneliness, and she knew she didn't want a boy like Cam to continue going like that._

_So, she decided to change it._

_One day, Dawn went up to Cam and started talking to him. She was somewhat surprised by his maturity level and his intellect at first, but that made it easier on Dawn. Within time, they both managed to build up some kind of friendship between each other, despite their ages. Dawn had even ended up telling Cam of her history one day. Cam had also told Dawn about his father, the Sensei of the academy, and that despite how much he wanted to, Cam wasn't allowed to join the academy._

_And that was how Cam found himself sneaking in secret training lessons with Dawn. It look a lot of convincing, and whining, but eventually Cam got it his way._

"Every child needs time to play with friends," Dawn pointed out, focusing back on the reality around her, and what Cam had said. "I figured Cam could've used one."

"So basically, Dawn took pity on Cam and became his friend," Dustin summed up, and then shrugged a little and scratched the back of his head. "What's so embarrassing about that?"

"It was a bit more for me on my end," Cam winced internally. "...when I was 11, I had a crush on Dawn."

The Wind Rangers exchanged glances with each other for a second, as they tried to picture a young Cam with a crush on a 17-year-old. That was one thing none of them expected. Still, Shane and Dustin couldn't help but hold back their chuckles at the image in their minds, while Tori tried to hide an amused smile.

"It's not that funny! I was 11 years old and starting to get hormonal; Dawn was one of the only girls I ever talked to," Cam narrowed his eyes at Shane and Dustin, but they just continued to laugh. "I'm over it now, so just, forget it."

"Alright, alright, I'm cool," Shane finally managed to stop. "Sorry, we're cool."

"I think it's kind of adorable," Tori said in a slight awe voice, causing Cam to blush a little.

"It's okay, Cam, I understand," Dawn spoke up again, giving him a sympathetic look. "Let's just, skip the awkwardness. Friends?"

Cam gave her a relieved smile and nodded. "Wouldn't want it any other way."

Just then, Sensei returned with Blake and Hunter. "Well?" Tori asked, approaching the two brother as soon as they came in. "What did Sensei have to ask you?"

"Sensei offered us positions to join you guys," Blake answered, causing the rangers to smile at first.

"We turned him down," Hunter added, right afterwards.

The smiles dropped from their faces, and Shane paced back and forth for a moment. "So let me get this straight," He started out, looking back at the two brothers. "After all you guys have been through, you're just gonna walk away from being rangers?"

Hunter gave a firm nod to him. "We have to."

Blake crossed his arms and sighed quietly. "Lothor isn't gonna rest until he destroys us."

"Join the club, dude," Dustin muttered.

"We can't risk anything happening to you guys because of us," Hunter insisted, trying to reason out with them. "You're the only thing standing between Lothor and the destruction of innocent people."

"But you've all been given a gift," Tori pointed out. "Isn't it your responsibility to use that gift?"

"Tori is right," Sensei nodded, looking up at the two brothers. "Hunter, Blake; Sensei Omino knew the Thunder Ranger powers were meant for you, but I cannot force you to live up to your ability. If you believe it's best to leave, you may."

Dawn remained quiet, but she found part of herself hoping that Hunter and Blake didn't leave.

"So what do you say?" Shane asked, putting his arms around Tori and Dustin's shoulders, and the three of them smiled hopefully. "You guys in or not?"

* * *

**I hope you guys didn't find Cam and Dawn's back story too cheesy or anything, I tried my best :P I'm gonna add another flashback of them together in the next chapter though**

**In Hurricanger, the Shinkenger (green ranger) had a closer relationship with Lady Gozen/Kagura than the other rangers, since he had vowed to be her protector, so I figured I should give Cam and Dawn a close relationship too. Their relationship will end up being more like a close brotherly-sisterly type relationship in the end though; after all, some friendships can be more interesting than love relationships, right?**


	4. Return of Thunder IV

**Hello Everyone!**

**So, thank you to those that reviewed and followed/favorited this story so far; you guys keep inspiring me to write ;)**

**This chapter is going to be shorter than the previous ones since Dawn won't be in a lot of the action. Until she becomes a ranger, she will mostly remain in Ninja Ops with Cam during the battles.**

**I know the episode is supposed to focus on Blake and Hunter's decision to join the team, but this chapter instead is going to focus on Dawn's relationship with Cam. If you'll notice, she's going to start out being closer with him than the others, and I included another flashback from their past. Of course, I still added a bit of Dawn and Hunter interaction at the end ;)**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review! :) I enjoy reading your thoughts on the chapters**

**I do not own Power Rangers**

* * *

Cam was typing away on his keyboard; his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him, while Tori stood beside him and watched him work. Dawn was on the other side of the room in the corner by the bookshelf, reading to herself. Even though they were both doing different things, Cam and Dawn were both indirectly getting distracted by the same thing: Shane.

Dawn's head lifted up from her book, and she looked over to see Shane perform a kick-flip on his skateboard. She was trying to ignore him, but apparently, she was failing, considering that she was slowly getting irritated.

"I'm confused," Cam spoke up, his tone prepared for sarcasm. "Does it now say 'Skate Park' at the secret entrance?"

Tori and Dawn chuckled slightly, looking back over at Shane, who stopped and just shook his head. "Well, sorry," He apologized, then stood on his skateboard and rolled over to the computer. "What are you looking at anyway?"

"The schematics for the Thunder Zords," Cam answered, while he continued typing away. "Someone really knew what there were doing when they built them; the technology is amazing."

"Yeah, now all we need is someone to drive them," Tori sighed to herself, remembering when Blake and Hunter had last been in Ninja Ops with them.

"It's not like they turned us down," Dawn pointed out, shutting her book and approaching the others. "They just said they were going to think about it."

Sensei overheard the girls' conversations, and hopped up onto the computer desk. "Blake and Hunter will find their own destiny; whatever that may be."

While looking at the schematics, Cam noticed something and zoomed in on it. "That's weird," He muttered to himself, staring at the screen.

"What? Finally find something you can't figure out?" Shane teased, looking over Cam's shoulder.

"No," Cam rolled his eyes. "I've scanned the Thunder Zords for damage, and I keep coming up with this non-functional retrofit."

Tori pressed her lips together slightly, then looked back at Cam. "Could you please repeat that with fewer syllables?" She asked a little sheepishly. "Not all of us can be super smart, you know."

"Well, one piece doesn't have any purpose, but it is integral to the overall design," Cam explained to her, shaking his head slightly. "I'd just love to know what the deal is with it."

Shane raised his eyebrow at Cam's explanation, and then grinned at him with some satisfaction. "Wouldn't that count as something you can't figure out?"

Dawn and Tori's eyes shifted over to Cam as well, and they were also holding back their smiles of amusement. "No comment," Cam narrowed his eyes slightly at Shane, then went back to trying to think again.

"Guys!" Dustin's voice rang, and everyone turned to see the yellow ranger enter Ninja Ops.

"We have a problem," He said, as soon as he came to a stop from running. "Blake and Hunter are gone."

"I guess it's pretty obvious that they're answer to join was a big fat 'no'," Shane rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms.

"No, it's not like that," Dustin insisted, shaking his head. "I was riding and found their bikes by the beach. There's not even a trail of footprints near the scene; it's like they vanished into thin air."

Dawn listened too while she leaned against the wall, and then gave a small nod. "Okay, that is kind of odd."

"I guess you do have a point it there," Shane gave in, thinking it over. "I mean, Blake and Hunter aren't the most reliable guys, but leaving their bikes? No way."

"I don't know about you, but I smell a rodent," Tori stated, before realizing what she had said, then looking down at their 'rodent teacher'. "No offense, Sensei."

"None taken, Tori," Sensei assured her, then turning to face the computer afterwards. "I, too, suspect foul play."

"And it probably has something to do with this." Cam spoke up, pulling up a video on the screen.

The rangers gathered around the computer, where they saw Choobo meditating in the forest while chanting something. "I'm assuming he's not there for the scenery," Cam leaned back in his chair, while he watched.

"I dunno, dude, that place looks kinda cool; especially this time of year," Dustin added with a small grin, causing everyone to look over at him, and he understood the message. "Right, sorry..."

Dawn had her arms crossed, and tilted her head over to Tori. "Does he always make random questions and comments?" She asked her quietly, not meaning to offend Dustin.

"You get used to it," Tori just shook her head in response.

"Come on, let's go," Shane changed the subject, as he, Tori, and Dustin started walking towards the exit. He turned around when he realized Dawn wasn't following. "Aren't you coming to?"

"Last battle, I bled, broke, and burned...literally; I got a lot of burns, I'm pretty sure I broke a rib, and I did bleed a bit," Dawn informed Shane with a small shake of the head. "I know my healing rate is accelerated, but for now, I think I'll stay away from this battle. Maybe I can be useful here at Ninja Ops; I can try and help Cam figure out that piece on the Thunder Megazord."

"Alright, it's your choice," Shane accepted that, then stood in a line with Tori and Dustin on his sides. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready."

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form, Ha!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Air!"

"Water!"

* * *

The Wind Rangers had left already, and Dawn and Cam were watching the battle from inside Ninja Ops through the computer screen. At the moment, the rangers had managed to defeat several Kelzaks, and Cam had just figured out where Hunter and Blake were.

"Guys, I've locked onto Choobo genetic encoding and found the routing system for the dimension in his pack; it's the key to releasing the Thunder Rangers," Cam told the rangers, staring at an image of Choobo on the screen. "To get Hunter and Blake out, you have to slash the tubing that connects the control panel on his chest to his backpack."

"_On it!" _The rangers' voices rang, and then the connection was cut.

Dawn was standing next to Cam by the screen, but she was looking at him mostly. "Still as smart as ever, huh?" She teased him, causing Cam to look back at her with a slight smile.

"Flattery will get you just about nowhere," He shook his head at her, then went back to the screen.

Dawn still continued to watch Cam, the smile fading from her face slightly, as she flashed back to a memory when she was teaching a lesson to Cam.

_Cam was performing another routine that Dawn had taught him. "So, I know sword work is an important part to being a ninja and all," He started, while going through the routine in slow motion first so he could adjust to it. "But when are we gonna start some actual fighting? I can't just rely on a sword all the time when I become a ninja."_

_"We'll start the hand-to-hand combat next lesson, I promise. Sword work is a good practice for balance and agility, though," Dawn explained to the boy, who gave her a small nod while continuing to go through the motions. "Alright, try it at full speed now."_

_Dawn stood by the side, and watched as Cam began to swing his wooden sword around during the routine. He was almost finished with it, and __began to back up while quickly swinging his sword in a figure eight motion, only to end up hitting himself in the leg and stumbling back. _

_"Ow!" He winced, coming to a stop. "I almost had it!"_

_"Hey, don't push yourself too much about it," Dawn tried to convince him, bending down slightly so she was at his level. "That routine's pretty advanced for a kid anyway; what you did was impressive."_

_"But I didn't complete it. I know I can do it," Cam insisted, taking the beginning stance again, but Dawn placed her hand over the sword to stop him._

_"Being a ninja isn't all about practice and discipline, Cam. It also requires heart, intelligence, and even friendship," Dawn informed him with a slight smile. "You're already a smart for a kid, don't let that fade away. And anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend."_

_At that statement, Cam's head turned over to Dawn. "Are you my friend?" He asked a little hesitantly at first, but then smiled after Dawn nodded. "I thought you were just my teacher."_

_"If I was just your teacher, I would've expected you to call me Sensei Dawn," Dawn chuckled slightly, then stood properly again, and held her hand out for him afterwards. "Come on, how about we take a sandwich break?"_

_"Definitely; I'm starving," Cam gave in, and he held Dawn's hand while they started to walk back. "I promise I'll get the hang of it. Just wait and see; when you come back to Blue Bay Harbor, I'll be the best ninja ever!"_

_Dawn looked down at Cam, and gave him a smile. "I wouldn't doubt it for a second."_

...and yet here they were; Cam only able to help the others from in front of his computer. Dawn knew Cam had more potential than this.

"So," Cam spoke up again, his eye still focused on the screen. "What's the real reason you didn't you go with the others then?"

"What do you mean?" Dawn raised her eyebrow at him.

"I know you, remember?" He pointed out, spinning in his chair to face her now. "You never let anything stop you from helping others. It's not like you to let a few old injuries hold you back like that."

"Well maybe I changed," She shrugged it off, not looking him in the eye.

"I don't buy that," He disagreed, clearly unconvinced.

Dawn looked down for a second, biting down on her tongue. "I stayed cause I miss talking," She admitted, finally looking back at him with a slight frown. "They're good people, Cam; they're interesting, and I wish I could get to know them like I did with you, but I can't."

Cam listened to Dawn talk, and tried to remember what he knew of her powers and history. "What's stopping you, then?" He asked her. "If you could do it with me, you can do it with them."

"You were a lonely kid back then. I pitied on you; that's why I talked to you," Dawn spoke jokingly, before getting serious again. "This is serious, though; if I'm not careful, and Lothor finds out I have the disc, then he could use the rangers somehow to get it from me. I can't let that happen," She shook her head and swallowed. "I can't let anyone think I care. That's how I'm keeping them safe."

"But it's not doing you any good. You can't fake it forever, Dawn," Cam insisted, giving her a small sigh. "They're gonna grow on you, no matter how hard you push them away-I should know; they used to irritate the hell out of me."

Dawn chuckled a bit, looking down for the moment. "They're definitely not what I expected Power Rangers to be like."

"You never know, that could be a good thing. In fact, they just might shock you one day," Cam told her, leaning back in his chair. "No one can predict the future; all you can do is follow whatever's in store for you."

"Ninjas are always big on prophecies, and following fate," Dawn scoffed at the ridiculous idea. She had never believed in fate; she always believed in making her own destiny and fighting back. "I should've known you'd be big on that too."

"Don't think of it as fate," Cam tried to think of a different way to say it. "Think of it as a surprise."

"But is a good one, or a bad one?" She asked him, with the slightest bit of worry. She always feared about the future.

"That's the surprise part," He shrugged a little at her, and she gave him a thin smile in return.

Before either of them could say anything else, the computer screen beeped. They both turned around to see that Choobo was now in a giant form, due to using a Scroll of Empowerment.

"_Cam,"_ Shane's voice rang through the speakers. _"It's Zord time!"_

"They're on their way," Cam responded back to them, and sent the zords to the rangers.

Dawn stared at the screen, and watched at the rangers went up against Choobo in their megazords. Despite using all of their power sphere weapons, the rangers were still getting beaten by Choobo; it honestly started to make Dawn somewhat anxious.

Suddenly, the footage of the megazords on the screen was replaced with one of the Thunder Megazord schematics again. "Really, Cam?" Dawn sent a look over at Cam, who stared at the screen again while typing on his keyboard. "Is it irritating you that much that you can't figure it out?"

"It's not just that," Cam shook his head, as he continued typing and observing the piece. "I think the piece could be some kind of advantage for the others. If I find out that it is, then the others might just have a chance at defeating Choobo."

Dawn's gaze shifted towards the screen too, then her hands moved over to the keyboard as well. "Wait, zoom in on it...stop it from rotating," She muttered, zooming in on the piece so it was the only thing showing on the screen, then stopping its screen rotation so they were staring at the front of the piece.

"It looks...kind of like a body," Cam realized, just noticing the piece looked as if it had a small head, arms, and legs.

"And in the ranger world, what's a large body that's made of separate pieces of technology?" Dawn asked with a small grin, hoping Cam would catch on.

"A Zord!" Cam realized, then began typing again on his keyboard. "You are a genius, Dawn; I can't believe I didn't realize it was a Zord."

"I have my moments," Dawn smiled a little, and watched him type up some coding on the screen. "What are you doing now?"

"I just have to create a coding for a two new power discs that the rangers can use to activate the Zord," Cam explained to her, as the images of two power discs and two power spheres appeared on the screen. "And I've almost...got it!"

With that, Cam called the rangers, and their faces appeared on the screen. "You know that part I was telling you guys about?" He spoke up to the others. "Dawn and I figured out what it does; check this out."

With a bit more tying, Cam hit the red button in the center of the keyboard, and sent the two power discs to Shane and Hunter's cockpits.

"_Thanks, Cam,"_ Shane's voice rang, as he plucked the power disc in his fingers. _"But __how about filling us in on the big secret?"_

"_Yeah,"_ Hunter agreed, looking down at his power disc too.

"The only way to beat Choobo is to combine your megazords," Dawn informed them this time. "Those power spheres will contain the pieces needed to form the Mini Zord."

Cam raised his eyebrow slightly slightly at her. "Mini Zord?"

"Hey, I figured it out, I get to name it," Dawn shrugged.

"Anyway, apparently Mini Zord was part of the program all along," Cam continued, grinning at the rangers on the screen. "Trust us."

And with that, Shane and Hunter loaded the power disks into the slots and twisted their handles. Two power spheres were released, and the pieces inside the sphere combined to form the Mini Zord, which floated in front of the megazords.

_"I am Mini Zord," _ Mini Zord announced. _"Storm Megazord, Thunder Megazord, combine; Thunder Storm Megazord formation, Go!"_

Cam and Dawn watched as the Thunder Storm Megazord was formed by the rangers, and each time Choobo tried to attack it, the megazord was completely unaffected. The Thunder Storm even managed to knock down Choobo with one punch. To finish it off, the rangers activated the Lion Blaster and fired it in Choobo's direction. Choobo managed to stand for a while longer, but then he eventually succumbed to the pain and fell forwards, creating an explosion that could only mean victory for the rangers.

Dawn smiled to herself at the ranger's victory, while Cam spun in his chair and stood up so he was facing her. "Thanks again for figuring out the Mini Zord, Dawn," He told her with some grateful-ness.

"You would've figured it out eventually, even if I didn't," She said, unconvinced, but she still smiled back at him. "...you still owe me a ring."

"What?" Cam asked her, seeming confused.

"You promised you would give me a ring the next time you saw me," Dawn smiled teasingly at him.

Cam blushed slightly, remembering another memory from when Dawn had visited. On the day that Dawn had left Blue Bay Harbor in the past, Cam had made another promise to her; he promised he'd give her a ring and marry her if she ever came back.

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?" He realized, looking up at her.

"Never," She shook her head with amusement. "Even if you don't want to marry me anymore, I'm still expecting a ring from you at some point in your lifetime."

* * *

"I can't believe you said no!" Dustin exclaimed, his eyes wide as he stared over at Blake and Hunter.

Everyone was back at Ninja Ops, and Blake and Hunter had told them all that they were offered a chance to join Factory Blue, which was a popular motocross sponsor. However, they had both declined the opportunity.

"Well, we had something more important to do," Blake shrugging innocently, then exchanged a brief look with his brother.

Hunter gave him a small nod, then looked back at the others, and both brothers grinned. "We're in."

The remaining rangers smiled too, and cheered for a moment. Even Dawn couldn't help but smile too. "You have all made a difficult decision," Sensei spoke up, looking up at Hunter and Blake. "I believe it is the correct one."

"Yeah, no lie," Dustin agreed, putting his arms over Blake and Hunter's shoulders for a moment. "This is sweet!"

Hunter turned his head, and caught a glance of Dawn looking over at him. "So, I guess this means we'll be teammates now," He realized, approaching her.

"Yeah," Dawn nodded once at him, speaking neutrally. "I guess so."

"...you know, you still have yet to check me out at the motocross track," He added as well, part of himself hoping that she wouldn't shut him out. "You weren't able to give me a proper answer last time."

Dawn actually considered it for a moment, then remembered what Cam had told her; to think of life as a surprise, just to do what she felt seemed right. Well her head was screaming at her to say no, but she felt the right thing to do was give him a chance. She crossed her arms, and the blank expression on her face turned the slightest bit more teasing.

"Just don't expect me to think that you riding a motorbike makes you attractive," She answered him. "If anything, it makes it seem like a dirt-covered, sweaty jock."

After that had been said, she walked away from him to rejoin the others, but Hunter knew that was her odd way of saying yes to him. He smiled slightly to him, and rejoined the rest of them as well.

"So," Shane started out, looking at Blake, Hunter, and Dawn too, before breaking out into a smile. "Welcome to the team, guys."


	5. Boxing BoppARoo

**Hello!**

**So, not too much feedback on my previous chapter :P Hopefully this new chapter will do justice :)**

**I would've updated sooner, but I've started production for my Gokaiger adaption story. I've found one to two authors that are willing to help you; you guys know who you are, so thank you :) I've written up a prologue and the first chapter for that already, and I'll probably post it around the middle of the month.**

**This chapter is shorter, just because Dawn isn't getting involved in the action yet. She'll join the rangers' battles after Cam becomes a ranger.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review!**

**I do not own Power Rangers**

* * *

A couple of days had went by after the Thunder Rangers had made the decision to join the Wind Rangers, and since Dawn had allied herself with them too.

Dawn stood near a cliff side by the beach, as the wind blew her hair astray. Her eyes slipped shut for a second, and she inhaled and exhaled. She thought to herself about her past few days in Blue Bay Harbor. Like she had told Cam before, it wasn't exactly what she expected; but hey, there wasn't much she could do about it either. All she could do was try her best to adjust.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of male grunting, and she opened her eyes to see two red and crimson streaks land on the beach below the cliff. She stepped closed to the edge, and looked down to see Shane and Hunter sparring with each other.

At first, it seemed as if they were only sparring, but within time, it looked as if they were in an actual battle against each other. The battle paused, however, when Shane managed to land a kick on Hunter's stomach, and forced him to stumble back.

"You never heard of cutting your losses?" Shane taunted him while grinning slightly with success, and then charged at him again.

The tables turned when Hunter kicked down Shane's leg, causing him to fall on his back. Quickly, he flipped Shane onto his stomach, and pinned him with his wrists behind his back. "What losses?" Hunter questioned with a simple smirk.

Shane grunted with pain, and then managed to grab Hunter's ankle, yanking it and causing the crimson ranger to fall back as well. Once again, the fight continued, and both boys were putting all their fury into it now. Shane kept throwing jabs at Hunter, who managed to block them with his forearms, but soon they started to ache, and he wasn't sure how many more jabs they could take.

This began to grab Dawn's attention, as she streaked off the cliff and landed with her feet on the sand. She tilted her head while watching them, just as Hunter managed to push Shane away.

"I thought we were just sparring," Hunter narrowed his eyes at Shane, while rubbing his forearms.

"Hey, if you can't keep up, I can get my sister over here," Shane offered, brushing it off as if it was easy.

"Oh, you're a street comedy, Shane," Hunter shook his head, now officially irritated with the red ranger.

Hunter and Shane got back into their fighting stances, and were ready to charge at each other again, until-

"I think, that's enough," Dawn spoke up in a stern voice, as the two boys turned their heads to find that she had been watching them. "I thought that Sensei had already talked about the Wind and Thunder Rangers working together as allies."

"You're one to talk," Shane retorted at her. "Being a team means hanging out; I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen you out of Ninja Ops since you joined."

"You think I'm content with working with a bunch of teenagers against an dark space ninja that wants me dead?" Dawn raised her eyebrow at him, switching to the side of herself that acted strict or neutral to get whatever need to be done. "The day I start playing nice with you and the others will be the day you boys start acting professional; now, what did Sensei tell you guys?"

Shane huffed with some irritation to himself. "A competitive spirit is a healthy, as-"

"-as long as you don't sacrifice honor and friendship," Hunter finished, his eyes narrowed over at Shane.

"Dude, I was right in the middle of saying that!" Shane glared at Hunter, rushing to stand up and resume their fight again.

Dawn managed to get in between both of them before they could even try throwing a hit at the other again, and then shoved them both away from each other. "That's it," She looked back and forth between them. "On the sand, push-ups; now."

When they tried to protest, Dawn only silenced them again with a glare. With that, Shane and Hunter dropped onto the sand and began to do their push-ups, but soon it turned into a race of who could do them faster, making Dawn roll her eyes. "I give up on you two," She shook her head, leaving the scene.

As she walked further away, though, she spotted Sensei standing on a rock nearby so he was almost level with her. "Sensei," She bowed slightly, trying to show some respect.

"Dawn, I appreciate you trying to help," Sensei started out, but Dawn could sense there was a 'but' coming up. "But while your point is valid," (knew it!) "Shane's words ring true as well. You must learn to cooperate with the rangers."

"I know, and I want to, but...they seem so immature, at first," Dawn crossed her arms, hesitant about the idea. "And I can't afford to get close and show proper emotion."

"The only way to defeat Lothor is to act together as a team; such a task cannot be accomplished with ignoration and neutralness," Sensei advised to her. "Allow yourself to 'loosen up', as the others would say. You may have lived for centuries, but you are still capable of being a teenager."

Dawn stared down as Sensei spoke to her, and in time, she nodded. "I'll try, Sensei."

* * *

Later during the same day, Dawn finally left Ninja Ops. She was back in her casual clothes and was walking around the town, listening to the music on her iPod once again. As she looked down at the screen, she pressed play and the music started to play through her earphones.

"Look out!"

Dawn's head snapped to see where the voice had come from, but it was too late, and she found herself on the ground after a skater ended up falling into her. She stared upwards, and realized that it was Hunter who can ran into her, considering he was the one that was kneeling over her. "Hey, again," Hunter grinned sheepishly at her.

"You mind getting off of me?" Dawn raised her eyebrow at him, but this time she didn't speak strictly or rudely.

"Oh, right!" Hunter scrambled and stood up again, offering a hand to help Dawn up, which she accepted.

Looking closer, she realized that Hunter was wearing a helmet and skating pads on his elbows and knees. "I thought you were into motocross," She bent down to pick up his skateboard. "What's with the skateboard?"

"It's for Total Trek," Hunter winced slightly, and he brushed himself off. "There's a motocross portion, and a skateboarding portion; I'm practicing the skateboarding part right now," He explained to her in a determined voice.

"By any chance, Shane isn't competing too, is he?" Dawn asked him curiously, and his silence was the only answer she needed. "You just want to beat him; I thought we went over this."

"Well he started it!" Hunter insisted, shaking his head with irritation. "I gotta beat this guy; I don't care what I have to do."

"My advice: consider getting a stunt double," Dawn suggested to him, pressing her lips together and giving him a small nod. "Is it really all worth it?"

"Look, this is just something I need to do," Hunter sighed to himself, grabbing the skateboard from her and dropping it back on the ground again. "And it will be once I wipe that smirk off of Shane's face when I win."

Dawn turned around and watched as Hunter skated away- well, attempt to skate away might have been the proper term. As soon as he kicked away on the board, he lost his balance and toppled back onto the hard concrete ground, making Dawn wince while she watched.

* * *

Dawn had eventually made the decision to return back to Ninja Ops after deciding there wasn't much to do in the city at the moment. When she arrived, she found Tori, Dustin, Blake, and Cam were gathered around the computer screen. Upon a closer look, she realized they were watching Shane and Hunter race against each other by the shore of the beach.

"You've got to be kidding me," She kept her eyes on the screen. "They're still at it?"

"Apparently," Tori shook her head with some disbelief too. "There's a kick-boxing robot kangaroo bouncing around Blue Bay Harbor, and they're out playing follow the leader."

"Kick-Boxing Kangaroo?" Dawn repeated. "Alright, what did I miss?"

"Let's just say while the two of them were racing, they ran into Lothor's latest goon," Blake explained to her. "They both got their butts kicked by a kangaroo that uses made up words."

Dustin shook his head slightly, and then looked down at their guinea pig teacher. "Sensei, we need help here; something Sensei-like."

"They must understand that the best quality of a leader is to understand when to be a follower," Sensei spoke up.

"Dude, that was way deep," Dustin commented, looking back at the others too, who also nodded. "Especially for a rodent."

Several minutes passed soon enough, and when the computer beeped, the screen changed to show Shane and Hunter in their ranger forms. _"Cam, the kangaroo clown is back for Round_ _Two__,"_ Shane's voice came through._ "We need help."_

Cam nodded, and then spun around in his chair to face the rangers. "That's your cue, guys."

The three rangers nodded, and then got into a line with Tori and Dustin on the sides, and Blake in the center. "Ready?" Dustin asked, taking the lead this time to morph."

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm,"

"Thunder Storm,"

"Ranger Form, Ha!"

"Power of Water!"

"Power of Thunder!"

"Power of Earth!"

* * *

Dawn remained with Cam at Ninja Ops again, and the two of them observed the fight from on the computer screen. Just when the rangers were about to finish off Bopp-A-Roo, a shield appeared in front that deflected the blast back onto the rangers. When the shield faded, it revealed Marah, Kapri, and Zurgane. With them added to the fight, the rangers began to lose slowly.

_"Cam, what's the deal with this guy?"_ Shane groaned, after being thrown into a car.

"Bopp-A-Roo can only be destroyed by deflecting his own energy back onto himself," Cam informed Shane, after using the computer to do a scan of Bopp-A-Roo.

"Hold on, Bopp-A-Roo's attacks mainly involve lightning," Dawn realized, after watching Bopp-A-Roo shoot a blast of lightning at Hunter, who rolled on the ground nearby Shane. "Maybe if there was a way to combine the energies of Wind and Thunder, it might be enough to take him down."

_"Is that possible?"_ Shane asked them, thinking about it as well.

"Theoretically, yeah," Cam nodded. "I'm gonna have to draw the energy out of one of you guys though, and channel it into the other."

Shane lifted his head from the ground, and looked directly at Hunter. _"What do you say?"_

_"I think it's worth a shot,"_ Hunter decided, making Dawn smile slightly back at Ninja Ops, when she realized they were cooperating now. _"Can you guys draw the energy from me?" _He asked, raising his morpher close to his mouth.

"I worth a try; here goes nothing," Cam responded, and then typed on his keyboard, pulling up a simulation of Shane's ninja sword on the screen. "I'm going to channel it directly into your ninja sword, Shane."

With that, a blast of crimson energy shot out of Hunter's morpher, flying into Shane's sword. _"Got it!"_ Shane stood up and raised his sword. _"Hope this works..."_

When Bopp-A-Roo tried to shoot another blast at Shane, he used his sword to deflect the hit. _"Ninja Sword, Thunder Power!"_ Shane called, as his sword charged up with lightning too. Bopp-A-Roo charged angrily at him, but Shane managed to slash him with the sword and weaken him.

_"Ready?"_ Dustin asked the others, pulling out the Storm Striker and aiming it forwards with Shane and Tori.

_"Totally!"_ Blake nodded, combining the Thunder Blaster with his brother.

_"Not so fast!"_ Kapri interrupted, just as as she, Marah, and Zurgane joined Bopp-A-Roo's side. _"You thought her shield was good? Try mine." _

Kapri raised her hand to create another force field in front of them all, and this one was larger than the last. _"That looks pretty strong,"_ Tori stared at the energy shield, trying to think. _"What now?"_

Hunter looked down for a moment and thought as well, until looking back over at Shane. _"What if we combine all of our weapons?"_ He suggested to the Wind Rangers. _"Would that possibly work?"_

_"There's only one way to find out,"_ Shane pointed out, and so, the rangers combined the Storm Striker with the Thunder Blaster. They stood together, and aimed it forwards.

_"Thunder Storm Cannon!"_

Instantly, the Space Ninjas staggered back at the sight of the rangers' new weapon. _"Look at that thing!"_ Marah cried, panicking slightly, and looking at the others.

_"Let's get out of here!"_ Kapri decided.

_"You don't have to tell me twice!"_ Zurgane agreed easily.

With that, the three of them disappeared from the scene, leaving Bopp-A-Roo by himself. _"Huh?"_ He looked back and forth. _"My buddies have bailed!"_

_"Ready,"_ Hunter gave a slight nod, as the rangers charged the weapon with their energies.

_"Full Power!"_ Shane called out, and pulled the main trigger.

The weapon fired a large blast forwards, that broke through the shield and hit Bopp-A-Roo. The alien screamed when he was hit, and instantly exploded to bit. The rangers lowered the weapon and began to cheer in victory. Even at Ninja Ops, Cam and Dawn celebrated too.

"Yes!" Cam grinned with some success at the rangers' win.

"Alright, I'll say it," Dawn shook her head while staring at the screen, an impressed smile making its way onto her face. "I'm happily surprised."

"You underestimate the power of the rangers' teamwork and leadership," Sensei told Dawn, glancing up at her for a moment.

"I know," Dawn gave in, letting out a small sigh. "I'm glad I was wrong."

* * *

The next day, Shane and Hunter competed at Total Trek. The skateboard portion was first, where Shane managed to perform some of his best tricks. After that was the motocross portion, where Hunter gained the lead during the race and jumped past the finish line first. Finally, they both sprinted to Storm Chargers, where they raced up the climbing wall together.

There was a small audience on the ground, watching and clapping while they competed, and a camera man was filming them from a harness too. Not many people noticed Dawn enter the rock climbing room and stand by the doorway, and she watched the boys with interest. However, a large smile appeared on her face when Shane and Hunter's hands both touched the metal FINISH bar together.

"And the winner of this year's Total Trek, is the team of Shane and Hunter!" Kelly announced later on inside the store, and presented the trophy to Shane and Hunter. The two rangers accepted the trophy, and were given medals as well while they smiled for pictures.

Tori approached the two boys, and smiled at them both. "Not bad."

"-Dawn?" Hunter realized, as he recognized the girl in white standing to the side. "What are you doing here?"

"You and Shane were right, the other day," She admitted, biting her bottom lip and stepping in front of him. "I might've been harsh to guys before."

"Harsh?" Hunter repeated, chuckling bitterly. "You ordered us to do push-ups."

"Well you guys were being unreasonable," Dawn defended, but in the end, the two of them chuckled. "Look, I'm sorry- point is, I'm starting to get out more now," She summed up. "Oh, and nice job on the motocross track earlier; definitely did a better job on there than on the skateboard."

Hunter shook his head slightly, and winced at the memory. "Yeah, that was pretty bad," He recalled. "But, thanks...you did think I looked hot while I raced though, right?" He asked in a vain tone, joking mostly.

This received an arm slap from Dawn. "Don't push it," She warned playfully, and then looked between him and Shane. "Congratulations to you both on the win, though. I knew you guys were capable of working together."

"We try to learn-ify with great knowledge-ness," Shane spoke in a wise tone, but that only made the others confused.

"We're starting to hang out better," Hunter translated for them.

Shane then held up his hand and high-fived Hunter, but soon enough, it turned into an arm wrestling match. Tori only shook her head and shrugged to herself, looking over at Dawn. "Well, it's a start."


	6. Pork Chopped

**Hello there!**

**So, I'd just like to put it out there first that when reviewing, I do appreciate constructive criticism, but I'm a sensitive author, so I'd appreciate if it's given somewhat nicely. **

**Also, don't just tell me what you dislike, please tell me the specific parts you like! That way I can try and incorporate more of that stuff into future chapters maybe. This also ties in to those people who leave me short one-sentence reviews. Thanks for telling me it was a good update, but which parts did you find good?**

**Last thing, I'm not sure what some of you thought about Dawn ordering Shane and Hunter in the beginning. I feel that the episode was mainly about the leaders of the two rangers adjusting to being a team. Well, Dawn's been her own leader for a few hundred years, so she has to adjust to being part of a team as well. She's been on her own, she's used to being the elder and mature one, so she has a slightly bossy complex at first. Hope that clears things up.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. It's a little longer again, cause I managed to put Dawn in more scenes this time. This chapter will also show a bit of friendship developing between Tori and Dawn.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review!**

**I do not own Power Rangers**

* * *

"This is so brutal," Dustin wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I hear that," Shane agreed, handing Dustin some wires with plugs.

"Problem, gentlemen?" Sensei's voice rang.

Shane and Dustin were both crawling underneath the narrow table at Ninja Ops, trying to get them to the computer. Shane managed to crawl out from the side, and then waited for Dustin to crawl out from the front. "Nice one," He grinned slightly, grabbing Dustin's hand and sliding him on the ground over to the computer.

"Those who fail to install the cable in time for science fiction marathon will feel the Wrath of the Unhappy Guinea Pig," Sensei called from his little chair in his mini hut to the side of the room, where the mini television was showing nothing but static.

"Sensei," Dustin started up, as soon as he was on his feet again. "No disrespect, but I'm pretty sure there was nothing about cable tv in-"

Shane interrupted by tapping him on the shoulder. "He was kidding, dude," He told Dustin, before plugging the tv wires into the computer plugs. "And...action!" He finished up, turning around to see that Sensei's tv was playing properly now. "Done."

"Hey, isn't this a little low tech?" Dustin asked, looking at Sensei's tv. "I mean, Cam's got like a thousand channels on that thing-"

"You guys mind being a little more quiet?" Dawn called over to them as she spun around in her chair, removing her earphone from her ear and pausing the footage she was playing on the computer screen. "I'm trying to watch a movie."

"What are you watching?" Shane asked curiously, approaching the computer screen.

"Fists of Fire," Dawn answered, playing the movie again. "I've kinda gotten into those old kung-fu movies lately; some parts are cheesy, but the action's pretty decent. I'm a classic girl, after all."

"How many times do I have to remind you guys?" Cam spoke up, approaching them all. "The screens are used for satalite surveillance," He rolled his eyes, and then caught sight of Dawn watching her movie as well. He approached her from behind and closed her movie.

"Oh, come on!" Dawn whined, spinning around to face Cam. "I'm only 10 minutes away from the ending."

"Well you're gonna have to watch it somewhere else," Cam insisted. "This is an underground high tech headquarters; not a home theater."

Meanwhile, Tori was in the back of the room against Blake. Tori was managing to avoid most of his hits, and successfully kicked him in the arm. "I'll take it easy on you this time," Blake said with a slight grin, while bouncing back and forth on his feet.

"Don't let the blonde hair fool you," Tori replied with a positive tone. "You're going down!"

This time, Blake aimed a punch at Tori, but she managed to catch it and then threw him against the ground. Blake had slid over by the tv, and when he tried to get up, his wrists got tangled in the tv wires and he accidentally pulled them out of the computer again, causing Sensei's tv to shut down and fizzle out.

Tori covered her mouth with her hand and tried to stifle her laughs caused by Blake's misfortune, while Blake scrambled back onto his feet again. "Well that worked out well," Cam muttered, shaking his head with annoyance.

"Sorry, man," Blake apologized, approaching the others and Sensei as well. "Maybe I could help-"

"I'll take it from here," Cam decided, slapping Blake's hand away. "You guys can leave, if you want."

Shane just raised his hands in innocence, and then turned to the others. "So, you guys wanna head to the skate park?" He asked them. "I gotta practice for my demo."

"Actually, I have to give Blake a ride to meet up with Hunter," Tori bit her thumbnail, and looked over at Shane. "And then I told Dawn I would hang out with her afterwards too."

"Whoa," Shane interrupted, and then turned to look at Dawn. "Since when do you hang out?"

"Since Sensei and Cam are encouraging me to get out more," Dawn rolled her eyes slightly, while they all started to walk towards the exit. "Plus Tori's the only other girl on the team, and I could use a break from guy time."

"Well, you're still coming tomorrow?" Shane asked, turning back to face Tori. "3 o'clock?"

Tori gave him a smile and a nod of assurance. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it."

* * *

After leaving Ninja Ops, Blake, and Tori met up with Hunter at Storm Chargers, while Dawn stood by the doorway and waited for Tori to return. "Hey, bro," Hunter called over, approaching his brother and pulling out two pamphlets.

"Nice," Blake grinned, grabbing one of the pamphlets and opening it up. "You got 'em."

"Got what?" Tori spoke up, looking at the two brother.

"Tickets to the Martial Arts Film Festival," Hunter replied, looking at the list of movies inside the pamphlet.

"Huh, hoping to pick up a few pointers?" Tori asked teasingly, then started rolling a bike over to the side.

However, Blake approached her anyway. "Hey, listen," He started out, as Tori turned to look properly at him. "Um, if you're not doing anything, you wanna come?"

Hunter's eyes widened the moment he heard Blake's offer, and his head raised to watch Tori and Blake. Dawn noticed this, and raised her eyebrow slightly at Hunter's sudden change in mood.

"Sure," Tori decided with a smile, causing Hunter to roll his eyes. "I love those old kung fu movies."

"Great," Blake smiled back at her, seeming happier.

Hunter just shook his head with annoyance, and Dawn finally decided to approach. "Alright, what's got you bugged?" She asked him curiously, also turning to look over at Blake and Tori while they continued to talk.

"Blake's bringing Tori along to the movies with us," Hunter huffed, glancing down at his ticket again.

"What's so bad about that?" Dawn asked, still not quite understanding.

"Oh, come on, it's obvious to see they like each other; it's sickeningly sweet," He gestured over to Tori and Blake, while they continued to smile and talk. "The Martial Arts Film Festival was supposed to be just me and Blake. Now that Tori's coming along, it just turned into a date; and now I'm the third wheel."

All of a sudden, Hunter's words registered in Dawn's head properly. "Martial Arts Film Festival?" She repeated. "...what movies are they showing?"

"Um, let me see..." Hunter trailed off, as he glanced back down at his pamphlet. "Well, the most popular one is Fists of Fire II-"

"I could come along," Dawn offered right after he mentioned the movie name. "You know, that way you aren't stuck as a third wheel, and all..."

Hunter raised his eyebrow at her at first. "You want to come with me to watch a movie?" He questioned her, slightly hesitant. I mean, yeah, he was kinda interested in Dawn, but he knew she wouldn't willingly agree to go on a date with him, much less suggest it. "Okay, what's the real reason you want to come."

Dawn dropped her fake smile, and sighed a little. "Okay, Cam cut me off from using the computer at Ninja Ops to go on the internet and watch Fists of Fire," She admitted. "I just finished the first one earlier today, and I have to see what happens next in the second movie."

"So what do I get out of it if I let you come?" Hunter crossed his arms and looked down at her.

"You get to go see your kung-fu movies, and you're not stuck as Blake and Tori's third wheel," Dawn pointed out. "I don't know about you, but that already sounds like a pretty good deal."

"...okay, yeah, that's a good point," Hunter realized after quickly thinking it over, and then giving her a small nod. "So, it's a date then-?"

"Whoa! I never said anything about a date," She shook her head to interrupt him. "It's just two acquaintances with a common movie interest, hanging out with two people that are meant to be, but are too blind to see it."

"Alright, pretty sure you made that sound more complicated than needed; but, okay," Hunter gave in. "Two people watching a movie together, that's it; right?"

"Right," Dawn assured him with a small nod.

Hunter nodded once too and pressed his lips together thinly, before approaching Blake and tapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, dude, let's go."

"Right, coming," Blake nodded, and then looked back at Tori. "Meet us outside the theater tomorrow at 3."

"3 o'clock," Tori repeated to herself so she would remember. "Got it."

With that, Blake and Hunter left Storm Chargers, and Dawn approached Tori. "Wait, I thought you were going to Shane's skate demo?" She asked her.

"Yeah, I am," Tori nodded, not quite understanding.

"But Shane's demo is tomorrow..." Dawn trailed off, hoping she would catch on.

"Right...at 3," Tori realized, her eyes widening with realization, while she groaned. "I don't believe this."

* * *

The next day in the afternoon, Blake and Hunter stood outside the movie theater, waiting for the girls to arrive. Blake was playing around, showing his brother some cheesy kung-fu moves, while Hunter just rolled his eyes at her and chuckled. Soon enough, Hunter's head turned around, and he spotted Dawn approaching them. "Hey," He grinned a little when he saw her. "You actually came."

"I already told you, I'm determined to watch this movie," Dawn shoved her hands in her pockets, then looked at both brothers. "Where's Tori?"

"I don't know," Blake shook his head, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of her. "She said she'd be coming-"

"Hi, guys!" A familiar voice called, and the three of them turned around to see Tori run over towards them.

"Hey, you made it," Blake grinned the moment he saw Tori. "We were started to get worried there; thought there might be some kind of Kelzak thing-"

"Um, do you mind if I talk to Tori for a second?" Dawn interrupted, looking between Tori and Blake. "It's really quick, I just have to make sure about something."

Tori stared oddly at Dawn for a moment, but then nodded, and Dawn pulled her over to the side of the lobby. "Okay, why did you ninja-streak to get here?" Dawn asked her first, crossing her arms and staring at the blue ranger.

"What?" Tori shook her head, trying to play it off. "I don't know what you're talking about. I ran here, and-"

"I'm not blind, Tor, unlike the thunder brothers over there," She gestured over to Blake and Hunter, who getting bothered by someone in a chicken costume. "You know you can't use ninja powers for every day life. So, I'll ask again, why did you ninja-streak to get here?"

Tori hesitated at first, before sighing and confessing. "I'm going back and forth between here and Shane's demo," She admitted. "I didn't have the heart to tell either of them that I couldn't come."

"Tori, you made a commitment to Shane," Dawn reminded her. "You should've told Blake that you had other plans."

"I know, but it's kind of too late now," Tori pointed out. "Please, just don't tell either of them."

"And why not?" Dawn raised her eyebrow at Tori.

"Um...girl code?" Tori tried to think of an excuse. "...because, it's important that girls always stick together when the other is in a time of desperate need; especially, if they're in a male-dominated environment."

Dawn just stared at Tori with her arms crossed, a look of disbelief on her face. "You just made that up," She stated, but that didn't stop the pleading look on Tori's face. "...fine! Girl code it is."

"Thanks," Tori smiled with some relief.

"Just, don't mention it," She assured her, and then the two of them approached the boys again.

"You girls ready?" Blake asked them, and Tori and Dawn nodded in response.

"Alright," Hunter grinned and clapped his hands together. "Movie time!"

However, before they could get inside the screen room, a girl with platinum blonde and pink hair ran behind the counter, and smiled cheerfully at the four of them. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, yeah," Hunter nodded slightly, looking at the display of movie snacks at the counter. "Popcorn?"

"You guys got the tickets, this is my treat," Tori assured the boys, and stepped up to the counter.

The girl quickly shoved a bucket of popcorn into Tori's hands, spilling some of it out of the bucket and onto the floor. "Um, thanks..." Tori said, trying to be polite, until she noticed that the bucket looked different from the rest. The bucket in her hands had tiny planet designs near the edge.

"It's, uh, left over from last week's sci-fi promotion," The counter girl explained, noticing her confusion.

Meanwhile, the person in the chicken costume kept bothering the others, especially Hunter, but soon enough, the chicken started to get on Dawn's nerves too. Tori began to pull out her wallet, but the girl shook her head. "No," She held her hand out to stop her. "It's on the house."

"Well, thanks," Tori gave the girl a polite smile, until she checked her watch and turned back to the guys. "Uh, save me a seat; I'll be right back!"

With that, Tori shoved the popcorn bucket into Blake's arms, and then ran outside. Once she was a safe distance away, she ninja-streaked away, leaving the boys confused.

"Uh, I guess we'll be in the front," Blake shrugged, and then he and Hunter walked over to the screen room. Dawn only shook her head and huffed to herself, before following them up.

* * *

Later on, Blake, Hunter, and Dawn were inside the screen room. The movie had already started, and had been going on for several minutes. Dawn watched with interest, as the main character got ready to fight off a gang using his martial arts. Blake and Hunter snacked on their popcorn while they watched it.

"Wonder where Tori is?" Blake muttered, his head turning around to try and see if Tori was back yet, and then shoving his hand into the popcorn bucket.

"Dude," Hunter rolled his eyes at his brother, ignoring his question. "You gonna eat that whole thing by yourself?"

Blake just continued shoving the pieces of popcorn into his mouth. "Thinking about it."

"Will you both be quiet? I'm trying to watch," Dawn snapped slightly at the two of them. "Now, hand me some popcorn; I'm hungry too."

When all three of them reached into the popcorn bucket, a red light emerged from the bucket, and in a flash, they had disappeared from the screen room. They landed in something yellow and oily when they realized what had happened.

Dawn sat up quickly, wiping the liquid off her face, but she was still completely soaked. Her head turned when she heard the guys sit up as well, also covered from head to toe in the liquid. "What are we covered in?" She wrinkled her nose, trying to stand up.

"It..." Blake trailed off, trying to smell what it was. When that didn't work, he resorted to licking it, much to Dawn's disgust. "It's butter!"

"Wait, is this popcorn?" Hunter realized, bending down to pick up a large piece of popcorn from the ground. Upon closer inspection, he realized the space they were in was small, and the walls had vertical red and white stripes. "Oh god, don't tell me..."

"-we're stuck inside a popcorn bucket!" Dawn exclaimed in realization, only to end up slipping in the butter and falling back down again. "Gross..."

"Hey, guys?" Tori's voice called from outside. "Hello?"

"Tori!" Blake tried to call to her. "We're down here!"

Not even a few seconds later did Tori's face appear in the hole above them, and her eyes widened when she saw them down there. "Don't eat the popcorn!" Hunter yelled up to her, until he fell down as well, splashing Dawn and Blake in the process.

All of a sudden, Tori's face disappeared, and not even a minute later, Hunter, Blake, and Dawn all came tumbling back down and splashed into the butter. The three of them could hear a voice from outside the bucket, and looked up to see a pig-like alien holding their bucket.

"That can't be good," Dawn muttered, and then stared at the popcorn walls. "...maybe an energy blast will work," She said to herself, and powered up an energy blast.

A ray of white energy was released from her hand, the disc in her forehead glowing faintly, but the energy only bounced off against the walls. The three ninjas ducked by the ground to avoid getting hit, until it flew out of the hole at the top.

"Okay, that was a bust," Blake sighed, standing up properly again.

"Come on, let's morph and maybe we can get out of here," Hunter suggested, looking at his brother, and the two of them stood side by side. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Blake nodded.

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"

But nothing happened. No flash of lights, no ranger suits appeared on their bodies. Hunter and Blake lowered their wrists, as the realization came to them; they couldn't morph.

...they were completely stuck.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Wind Rangers had returned to Ninja Ops. Tori explained the situation to all of them; how she attempted to use her ninja powers to go to bother events, and then how Dawn and the Thunder Rangers were kidnapped by one of Lothor's aliens; a pig alien called Trayf.

"Tori, using your ninja powers for your own personal gain is a very serious infraction of the Ninja Code," Sensei scolded the blue ranger. "Not to mention that you let your friend down."

Tori nodded in understanding, and then turned to look at Shane, who seemed slightly disappointed at her. "Shane, I am so sorry," She apologized to him. "If I had stayed at the demo, none of this would've happened."

"Or you might've been captured too," Sensei spoke up again. "We cannot predict the future; this is why we have rules to govern the present."

"Yes, Sensei."

Sensei nodded at her, and then turned to look at his son, who sat by the computer while trying to track down Trayf. "Cam, do you have a reading on the creature's whereabouts?"

"I just found a major hot-spot on top of the Harbor Office Tower," Cam informed him and the rangers, managing to track down the pig.

With that said, the three rangers stood in a line; Tori in the center this time. "You guys ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form, Ha!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Water!"

"Air!"

* * *

Timed passed by, and Dawn was still stuck in the popcorn bucket with Hunter and Blake. The two brothers were attempting to get out again, but this time, they went with a different approach. Blake sat on Hunter's shoulders while trying to reach for the rim of the roof, and Dawn stood by the wall, watching them.

"Come on, keep reaching!" Hunter yelled up at his brother.

"I'm trying!" Blake yelled back down at him, his hands slipping against the walls.

However, Blake lost his balance and started to fall back down, taking Hunter down with him. When they fell, they splashed into the butter, and it splashed into Dawn's face too.

"Real nice job, boys," Dawn spoke dryly, wiping the butter off her face.

"It's no use!" Hunter groaned with frustration, sitting up again.

"You know what the worst part of it is?" Blake asked them, looking back down at the yellow liquid around them. "It's not even real butter!"

"Great, we're going to be destroyed by artificial flavoring," Dawn rolled her eyes, and kicked one of the pieces of popcorn away in frustration.

Unfortunately, she lost her balance and began to slip, until Hunter managed to slide over and catch her before she could hit the ground again. "Thanks," Dawn thanked him, before looking down to see where he was holding her. "...you mind taking your hands off me?"

"Huh-? Oh! Sorry," He apologized, removed his hands from Dawn's lower section after realizing that was where he had ended up grabbing her. "My hands slipped."

"Just, don't bring it up," She dismissed it, shaking her head at him.

Meanwhile, Blake was sitting on the ground. As he leaned back, he felt something underneath him, and then pulled it out. "...guys, check it out!"

Dawn and Hunter turned when they heard Blake, and then made their way over to him. "...is that what I think it is?" Hunter asked him, staring down at the object in Blake's hand.

Blake nodded back at him, grinning as well. "The un-popped kernels at the bottom of the bucket!"

"I'm still confused," Dawn shook her head, not quite understanding yet. "How does this save us?"

"Well since we can't bust outta here, maybe we can pop ourselves out," Blake elaborated for her, standing up again. "Hunter and I can use our Thunder powers to heat up the kernels, and then maybe it'll blow up the bucket."

"Yeah, if the blast doesn't bake us first," Hunter added, seeming the slightest bit uncertain.

"Got a better suggestion?" Blake asked him, while Hunter just shook his head. He then looked back at Dawn. "You might wanna stand to the side."

Dawn simply nodded, and then made her way over to the corner of the bucket. "Alright, go."

With that, Hunter and Blake faced each other, and began to focus on the powers. Their bodies charged with crimson and navy electricity, and soon enough, the butter on the ground started to boil and steam.

"It's starting to get hot in here," Dawn spoke up, looking around the bucket. "I think it's working."

"Keep going!" Hunter encouraged his brother, and once again, they continued to focus their energies. "I think it's almost ready to blow!"

* * *

"That's it?" Trayf kept provoking the rangers. "That's all you got?"

The Wind Rangers were still battling again Trayf, and they all had their ninja swords in their hands. "Where are our friends?" Shane demanded to know, pointing his sword forwards.

"They went out to get popcorn!" Trayf cackled and snorted, before drawing his large sword. "You look tired, rangers; why don't you take a low down?"

Trayf slammed the edge of his sword into the dirt, and it managed to hit the rangers. "It's all about the snout," Trayf exclaimed, launching a snout attack onto the rangers, causing them to fall down and get injured. "Do you finally submit to the Power of the Pig?!"

"In your dreams!" Shane scoffed, managing to stand up with the other.

"The only thing powerful about you is your smell!" Tori narrowed her eyes at Trayf.

"Yeah!" Dustin agreed, clenching his fist. "You ever heard of soap?"

"Ah, put a lid on it!" Trayf thrust his hands forward, and a giant white lid appeared in mid air.

The lid began flying towards the rangers' direction, until Shane managed to jump on top of it to get it to stop. "Whoa-! Haha, yeah!" He grinned, managing to get the hang of it, as he began to ride the lid like it was a skateboard. Shane steered the lid back in Trayf's direction before he jumped off, and when the lid hit Trayf, the pig screamed and fell down.

"Alright, Storm Striker!" Shane called, getting ready to finish it off.

The rangers summoned their weapons and combined them to form the Storm Striker. "Time to stick a fork in this pork," Shane decided, as they aimed the Storm Striker. "Fire!"

Shane pulled the trigger and fired a large energy blast at Trayf, who screamed on impact. The rangers disconnected their weapons, and then turned around. "I like my bacon extra crispy," He said dramatically, just as the explosion of Trayf went off behind them.

Suddenly, a portal that lead back to the city appeared in the sky, and the rangers' head moved upwards. "Let's get out of here!" Tori decided, until the portal began to pull the rangers upwards before sucking them inside.

When the rangers landed on the ground, they were back in the middle of the city. Their visors were open, and then stood up properly while looking around

"That roast is toast!" Dustin grinned in victory, and Shane laughed too.

"What about Blake, Hunter, and Dawn?" Tori remembered, trying to look for the three missing ninjas.

As if on cue, Blake, Hunter, and Dawn appeared at the feet of the rangers. Blake and Hunter managed to blow up the bucket, but they were all still covered in popcorn. To make things worse, some leftover butter rained down and covered them again.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Dawn complained a little, trying to wipe the butter off her clothes.

"Nasty!" Hunter grimaced, shaking his head with disgust.

"Yuck!" Blake exclaimed, flinging some butter off his hands.

The Wind Rangers were mostly confused, but they were just relieved to see that the three of them were okay. "You guys alright?" Tori asked, as she, Shane, and Dustin helped up Blake, Hunter, and Dawn from the ground.

"Yeah, we're mostly okay," Dawn assured them, trying not to slip while she stood.

"You all kinda reek, though," Dustin wrinkled his nose, looking at them all.

"What are you covered in?" Shane asked them, wiping some of the butter off his glove and onto his suit.

Hunter only rolled his eyes. "Artificial butter flavoring."

* * *

As soon as the rangers arrived back at Ninja Ops, Sensei dished out punishments to Tori and Dawn; Tori, for using her ninja powers for her own personal gain, and Dawn, for keeping Tori's secret. Dawn had to mop up Ninja Ops, while Tori had to clean the zords.

The two girls were currently grabbing their supplies from the cleaning closet. As Tori grabbed a bucket and a sponge, she turned her head to look at Dawn. "...why did you do that earlier?"

"Do what?" Dawn asked, picking up a mop.

"Vouch for me," Tori answered. "Sensei wasn't going to punish you originally, but you took responsibility as well and said it was also your fault...why?"

"Because it was. I should've done the smart thing and turned you in," Dawn replied simply, before glancing over at Tori for a moment. "...besides, it's girl code to stick together when the other in in a time of need."

Tori raised her eyebrows at first, and then smiled at Dawn at the fact that she had remembered her lame excuse from earlier. "...thanks."

"Don't mention it, really," Dawn gave her a slight smile, and filled up her bucket with water. "Good luck cleaning the zords...you'll probably need it."

"You're probably right," Tori sighed with irritation, and took her cleaning equipment with her to the Zord Bay.

With that, Dawn took her cleaning supplies to the main room in Ninja Ops, and started to mop alone.

"Hey Cinderella, drop the mop," Dawn turned to see Hunter walk into Ninja Ops with a slight grin on his face.

"If I'm Cinderella, and you're coming to rescue me from my cleaning, would that make you my Fairy Godmother?" She asked him playfully, leaning on her mop stick.

"Real funny," Hunter said dryly while he approached her, but he was still grinning. "I got two more tickets to the film festival; and this time we won't invite the pig," He said until Sensei cleared his throat. "...oh, not you, Sensei."

Dawn just chuckled, and glanced down at the tickets in Hunter's hand. "What about Blake?"

"He gave up on going to the movies; I think he told me he was gonna take Tori to lunch tomorrow instead or something," He shook his head slightly. "You still want to finish Fists of Fire II, right?"

"Well, as much as I'd love to, I can't," Dawn frowned thinly, looking away from him while she mopped the floor. "I wasn't responsible earlier when I kept Tori's secret. Now it's my responsibility to make up for it- sorry, Hunter."

Hunter only shook his head, brushing off the topic. "It's alright; I'm not the best with dates anyway."

Dawn raised her eyebrow at him, and stopped mopping. "I thought it was just two friends hanging out?" She reminded him, and Hunter became quiet. "You know what, maybe the movies was a mistake; I shouldn't have come in the first place," She realized, shaking her head slightly. "Sorry I got your hopes up."

"Yeah, uh, no worries," Hunter dismissed it, staring down at the tickets in his hands and hiding his slight disappointment.

"...look, there's a nasty spot over there," Dawn pointed, changing the subject. "I'll go clean it up."

Hunter watched as Dawn walked away from him to continue her cleaning, before looking back at his tickets and sighing with irritation. "What am I supposed to do with these tickets now?" He muttered, trying to think, until he spotted Sensei over by his habitat. "...you like old kung fu movies, right?"


	7. The Samurai's Journey I

**Hi people!**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I'm afraid you guys will have to get used to updates like this. I'm in summer school, and I'm swamped with the amount of homework I have to get done in one night now. I'm getting less time to write, so please bear with me.**

**I know some of you guys are anxious for Dawn to become a ranger, but don't worry, it's gonna happen soon, I assure you. In the meantime, enjoy more Cam-Dawn friendship stuff! **

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review! :)**

**I do not own Power Rangers**

* * *

"No way, dude," Hunter shook his head, staring downward for a moment, and then looked back up at the others. "There's no way he does it."

"I don't know, dude," Dustin scratched the back of his neck, and shrugged a little."He's pretty strong for a little guy."

"Hey, quiet," Shane shushed both of them. "A little respect for the master."

The five rangers stood in a circle at Ninja Ops, staring down at Sensei. The guinea pig stood on top of a thick block that was in the center of the circle. Dawn and Cam, on the other hand, watched from the sidelines.

"Watch closely," Sensei instructed the rangers, before focusing. He then leapt into the air, and when he landed back on top of the block, it broke in half.

"That was radical!" Blake grinned, clearly impressed.

Tori raised her eyebrow at Hunter, seeming a little satisfied that he was proved wrong. "You were saying?"

"I stand corrected," Hunter gave in, shaking his head with some confusion. "But, how?"

"True power comes not from the body, but from the mind," Dawn informed them all, approaching the circle and looking down at the broken brick. "Age comes with wisdom; trust me, I'm right."

Hunter stared down at the block again, before clapping his hands and coming to a decision. "Alright, I'm up."

"You sure you wanna go there, dude?" Dustin asked, just to make sure.

"Look, if he can do it, I'm- uh..." Hunter trailed off, trying to think of a good way to say he was capable to breaking a block in half without disrespecting Sensei. "-gonna give it my best shot."

Dawn placed a new block in front of Hunter, seeming to struggle until she put it down. It was definitely heavy, and thick. She knew there was no way any of them could break it; there was a good chance that she wouldn't even be able to break it either if she tried. She stepped back, and watched as Hunter kneeled down in front of it.

He took a second to take a deep breath in and out, but when he slammed the side of his hand against the brick, a soft cracking sound was heard right after. Hunter gasped with pain and clutched his other hand, groaning right afterwards and biting back a swear.

There were mixed reactions among the rangers. Blake and Tori winced while they watched, and Dustin and Dawn were holding back their chuckles, but Dawn was doing a better job of it; however, she still felt some sympathy for Hunter after his failed attempt. Shane, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"Rodent- 1;" Shane marked with a snicker. "Thunder Ranger- None."

"You think you can do it?" Hunter challenged Shane, while still holding his hand.

Shane seemed to hesitant for a moment, and stared down at the unbroken block. Finally, he knelt down behind it, and started to focus. Sucking in a deep breath, he slammed his hand down on the brick, but unlike Hunter, Shane screamed loudly in pain afterwards.

Tori was up next, but she went with a calmer approach to breaking the block. She waved her hands out in front of her, then brought down one of them onto the block. However, it resulted in another failed attempt, but at least she had managed to suppress her scream.

Blake went afterwards, and he stared down at the brick for a short moment, trying to think of all the possible ways to break it. At last, he resorted to slamming his forehead against it, but it only caused him to yell out with pain and fall backwards in the end.

"I've heard the phrase 'use your head';" Dawn tilted her head slightly, looking down at Blake, while hiding her chuckles. "I didn't think you would take it literally."

Blake stumbled back onto his feet again, with some help from Tori. "I'm good, I'm good," He gave a thumbs up to them, but he stumbled around dizzily while holding his forehead.

"You know what, I think I'm gonna skip my turn," Dustin decided, scratching the back of his neck slightly. If none of the others could do it, he figured he couldn't either.

Sensei sighed and shook his head with some disappointment at the rangers. "You have all come far in your training, but you still have a long way to go."

"Yeah, but you're like a super full-on Ninja Master," Dustin pointed out, pointing down at Sensei.

"Hiya!"

Everyone turned around, just in time to see Cam slam his hand against the thick block, and it split right in half, much to the rangers' shock. "...what?" Cam asked, realizing everyone was looking at him now.

Dawn crossed her arms and stared over at Cam for a moment, giving him an impressed grin. The others, though, began talking about other possibilities.

"He must've used some kind of laser beam thing, right?" Shane suggested, looking at the others.

"Or maybe he switched the bricks," Dustin added.

Dawn let out a small huff, then picked up one half of the block again. She managed to toss it over to Dustin, who was able to catch it, but the weight caused him to fall down. "That seem fake to you?" She asked him, placing her hands on her hip.

"Nope," Dustin grunted, dropping the block and standing back on his feet again. "Okay, maybe they weren't switched."

"But it's gotta be a trick," Hunter insisted, and some of the others nodded.

"You guys don't get it, do you?" Cam stared at them all with disbelief and irritation. "Just because someone isn't a ranger or a trained ninja, it doesn't make them completely useless."

With that, Cam walked out of Ninja Ops, and Dawn looked back at the others. "Real nice job, guys," She shook her head with some disapproval at them, and then tried to catch up with Cam.

"What did we say?" Blake shrugged, not realizing what they did wrong.

"I fear there is more to mere words than this, Blake," Sensei looked up at the rangers, before his gaze switched over to the exit.

* * *

Dawn ran through the forest, trying to look for any sign of Cam, until at last, she decided to check by the lake. She came to a stop once she reached the lake, and just as she thought, Cam was there skipping rocks.

"Should've known I'd find you here," She approached, and stood by his side. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Cam assured her, as he looked out over the lake. "Just tired of the lack of respect."

"Who says you don't get any respect?" Dawn asked him. "Cam, everything the others are able to do is because of what you're able to do; you're our genius, remember?"

Cam glanced down and shook his head at her. "It's not enough," He insisted. "I want to be part of it."

"...you want to be a ranger?" Dawn realized, and Cam nodded slightly at her. "You don't have to be a ranger to get some action in your life, you know; I mean, I'm not a ranger."

"Yeah," Cam gave in at first. "But you are a 500 year old ninja with a power disc inside your head."

Dawn pressed her lips together, and nodded a little. "Okay, that's true as well..." She gave in, then looked back at him. "I guess when I think about it, though, you would make a great ranger; I think you would," She told him with a slight smile. "Why don't you try and talk to Sensei?"

"He's forbidden me," Cam huffed with a bit of irritation.

"Why?" Dawn furrowed her eyebrows slightly with some confusion.

"He promised my mom that he would keep me safe and far away from danger," Cam remembered, looking down at the memory of his mother as well. "He's doing whatever he can to honor that promise; he was even hesitant with me running Ninja Ops at first. Why do you think he refused to have me properly trained as a kid?" He pointed out to her. "All my lessons came from you."

Dawn nodded with some understanding, then tried to think. "Well, aren't you the one that told me the future is full of surprises?" She pointed out with a small smile. "Maybe he'll surprise you."

Cam lifted his head and shook it at her again. "I can't believe you just used my own advice against me."

"Hey, you have yourself to blame for that," Dawn shrugged, causing both of them to chuckle slightly. "At least try and talk to him about it, and make sure he knows how important it is to you; after all, he's a reasonable man- well, guinea pig now, I guess."

"Okay," Cam gave in after some thought about it. "But if he doesn't listen, I'm not cleaning his cage for a month."

The two of them laughed a little, just as Cam skipped his last rock. Just as they were about to leave, an explosion occurred in the water behind them. They both turned around to see Marah, Kapri, a new alien, and some Kelzaks standing there now.

"We hate to break up this greeting card moment," Kapri started, placing her hand on her hips.

"But we're here to destroy you," Marah said with an excited smile, before turning to Kapri. "Evil enough for you?"

"Whatever," Kapri rolled her eyes at Marah. "Attack!"

With that, the alien, Madtropolis, fired a beam at Cam and Dawn, but luckily they both managed to jump out of the way before they could get hit. Just as they got back onto their feet, the rangers arrived at the scene and got ready to battle.

"I've heard about the city coming to live, but this is just ridiculous!" Dustin commented when he saw Madtropolis' head, which had mini skyscrapers sticking on top of it.

"Everyone a comedian!" Madtropolis spat at him. "You gonna morph, or do I have to beg?"

"You got it," Shane narrowed eyes at the alien, then his gaze shifted to his teammates. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm,"

"Thunder Storm,"

"Ranger Form, Ha!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Air!"

"Water!"

"Power of Thunder!"

The first thing the rangers did was gather in front of Cam and Dawn, ready to defend them. "Cam, run!" Hunter exclaimed, looking back at Cam.

"No way!" Cam refused, stepping up. "I can help!"

"You guys don't have to worry about us," Dawn insisted, stepping up too and drawing her katana sword from her back. "Just focus on getting the alien; Cam and I will fight off whatever's left."

With that, Madtropolis leapt and began to attack the rangers, leaving the Kelzaks to deal with Dawn and Cam. Dawn swung her sword at the Kelzaks, avoiding several of their hits while slashing some of them too. Even without a weapon, Cam seemed to have near-to-no trouble defending himself against his share of Kelzaks- at first that is.

Within time, the amount of Kelzaks overwhelmed both him and Dawn, leaving the two of them pinned down against the ground. Marah fired a ray at the rangers, and when they stood up, Madtropolis opened up a metal sphere that began to drain the rangers and their powers. The rangers' suits turned gray as a result, and when they hit the ground, they de-morphed from weakness.

"That ought to do it!" Madtropolis cackled, sealing the lid back onto the sphere again, and then regrouping with Marah and Kapri, who high-fived each other.

The rangers tried their best to sit up, but their facial expressions were weak and tired, and they became pale from the lack of energy.

"You guys are looking a little pale," Kapri taunted, staring down at the powerless rangers.

"You guys should try a little make-up," Marah suggested to them with a grin. "Oh! I have some color charts that will totally match your skin tones-" She was cut off by the harsh glare from Kapri.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Power Losers!" Madtropolis laughed before disappearing along with Marah, and Kapri.

The Kelzaks disappeared along with them, so Cam and Dawn immediately got up afterwards. Quickly, they ran over to the rangers' sides. "You guys okay?" Dawn asked, reaching down to help them.

"Not really," Dustin groaned, trying to sit up. "I feel like I just tried to ride a 40-mile moto riding a tricycle."

"We better get told guys back to Ops," Cam instructed, bending down to help up Shane, Tori, and Dustin, while Dawn helped Hunter and Blake.

* * *

Within time, they all arrived back at Ninja Ops. Cam was scanning Shane, who sat in the chair by the computer, to monitor his vitals, while the others were sitting by the table in the center of the room and waiting for the results.

Tori rested her head on Blake's shoulder, while Blake placed his arm on top of his knee to keep himself propped upwards so he wouldn't fall to the side. Dustin sat alone on the ground; his back slumped against the edge of the table. Hunter had his arm wrapped over Dawn's shoulders, using her as his support. She held onto the arm that was over her shoulders, and leaned against him to prevent herself from toppling over.

"Man, that guy worked us," Shane breathed tiredly, just as Cam finished up his scans. "What happened out there?"

"Madtropolis drained your ranger energy source," Cam informed him, while Sensei observed the diagrams of the results on the screen. "If you go out and fight again, there's a good chance you won't come back."

"Dude, that's harsh," Dustin commented, and he looked close to falling asleep now.

"This is grave news," Sensei turned away from the screen to look at the rangers. "We must find a way to retrieve your powers."

Tori's head lifted up from Blake's shoulder, and she pointed over at the screen, which showed Madtropolis in a warehouse, and the sphere containing their powers was hooked up to some machine. "Look, there he is."

"Alright, it's go time," Shane spoke weakly, using the chair to prop himself onto his feet again.

"You can barely stand, Shane," Dawn insisted, standing up and about to approach the red ranger, but she heard a groan and a thud from behind her. She turned to see that Hunter had fallen on his side due to her moving away from him. She stared over at him and winced slightly. "Oh, sorry..."

Hunter was almost face-down on the table, and he groaned while rolling onto his back. "I'm good," He assured her, but his facial expression was pained as he sat up.

"Look, I'm not just gonna sit here while that freak is loose," Shane insisted, as he walked over towards the others and helped them up as well.

"Me neither," Tori agreed with him, as she and the others began to stand, following Shane's actions.

Cam, realizing they wouldn't back down any time soon, sighed to himself, and then walked to the computer. "Let me at least adjust your morphers to give you a temporary increase in energy," He told them, typing on the keyboard, as the rangers' morphers glowed their respectful glowed for a moment, and the rangers managed to feel the small boost in their energy. "...but it won't last."

* * *

While the rangers left to fight Madtroplis, Dawn and Cam remained at Ninja Ops to observe the battle from the computer screen. Just when it seemed like the rangers had succeeded, Madtropolis grew in size. They attempted to open up the sphere to retrieve their powers again, but the seal didn't break.

"_I can't open it!"_ Shane realized, after slashing the lid with his sword.

"_We don't have time to figure it out,"_ Hunter insisted, clenching his fist and looking up at Madtropolis. _"We have to stop him!"_

Shane raised his morpher to his mouth. _"Cam, we need the Megazords!"_

"There's no way you guys will be able to last a Megazord fight in your conditions," Dawn spoke up instead, hiding the worry in her voice.

"_Well we don't exactly have much of a choice."_

Cam sighed to himself, and gave in. "Alright, but first, we have to get that sphere to Ninja Ops," He said, typing on his keyboard and pulling up a satellite map on the screen, as he tried to locate the sphere on the computer. "I've been working on a new teleportation system; I hope it's ready."

The map zoomed in until it was directly over the rangers, and the sphere was in sight. With a bit more typing, Cam hit the center button on the keyboard, and the sphere disappeared from the rangers' hands, before reappearing at Ninja Ops on the table. "It's here," Dawn told Cam once it appeared.

"Good," Cam nodded, then turned back to the screen. "Alright, guys, I'm sending the Zords now..."

With another hit of the large button, the Zords were sent off on their way. Once the rangers were inside, they combined to form their separate Megazords, and got ready to fight.

Dawn raised her hand to her lip and light bit her thumb nail while watching the fight. The rangers' condition made the Megazords unstable for battle, and they were starting to take way too many hits. "Is there anything you can send them for protection?" She asked, her head moving down to look at Cam. "A power disc? Something?"

"I can send them a weapon for protection, but that's all they'll be able to use right now," Cam typed up some coding on the screen, and then sent a power disc to the Storm Megazord.

Shane picked up the disc as soon as he received it, and stared down at it, letting out a small sigh of relief. _"We'll take any help we can get,"_ He nodded once, then loaded the disc and twisted the handle. _"Locked, and dropped."_

A power sphere was released, and when it opened up, it was revealed to be-

"_A scarf? You sent us a scarf?!"_

"Just go with it!" Cam tried to insist.

"_If you say so,"_ Shane shook his head, and the Storm Megazord grabbed the red scarf from the air.

Madtropolis sent an electric blast at the Megazords, but the Storm managed to use the scarf to deflect it. They raised the scarf up, and when it came down, it managed to cloak both Megazords and make them invisible.

"_It's gonna take more than a giant hanky to fool me!"_ Madtropolis exclaimed, shooting lightning at the ground and creating a fire.

The fire began to malfunction the Megazords, causing them to reappear again. The Zords detached from each other, and the rangers fell out of their cockpits and tumbled to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground, they demorphed again and returned to being pale and weak.

"They're out of energy!" Cam cried, trying to boost their energy through the computer, but it was no use. There wasn't anything left to boost.

"Sensei, isn't there anything we can do?" Dawn asked, turning to the small teacher, who stood on the computer desk.

"In the past, there was a power mighty enough to help us," Sensei began to recall the past. "But there is no sense in longing for what has long since been destroyed."

Cam took off his glasses, and stared down at his father. "There is no time for riddles dad," He insisted, shaking his head slightly. "You know something; what is it?"

"Sensei, with all due respect, Cam is right," Dawn agreed, while Cam placed his glasses back on again. "If there's a way, you have to tell us."

"That is useless to discuss," Sensei refused to tell them. "We cannot safely predict how the portal will respond to-"

"The Scroll of Time!" Cam managed to figure out after Sensei slipped up with his words. "Of course!"

He exchanged a quick glance with Dawn, then their heads both turned towards the bookshelf in the corner of the room. Cam both broke off into a run towards the bookshelf, but when he jumped onto the railing, Sensei leapt across the room and landed on the shelf with the scroll, blocking Cam's hand from reaching it.

"No!" He refused, causing Cam to reel his hand back and sigh with frustration. "We must not disturb that which is the natural progression of time."

"If we don't do something, there might not be any time left," Dawn spoke up, approaching the bookshelf and looking down at Sensei.

"She's right," Cam agreed, trying to convince his dad. "You know I have to do this; I have to go back in time and get the one power source that will help us."

"To confront one's past is an awesome responsibility," Sensei reminded his son. "It risks changing everything you know about the present."

"I have to take that chance."

Sensei's gaze shifted to the shelf of scrolls, before he sighed and looked back at Cam. "I shall let you go on this mission- but on one condition," He instructed, then gesturing over to Dawn. "Dawn shall accompany you into the past."

"Alright," Cam nodded once, and then reached over to grab the scroll. "Thanks dad."

"I promise we'll return safely," Dawn assured Sensei, and then turned to Cam and gave him a slight smile. "Guess you're stuck with me watching over you again," She teased, trying to lighten the mood for them.

"Just like the old days, huh?" Cam rolled his eyes with amusement at her.

He jumped off railing, and Dawn walked down the steps. Once they both stood together on the ground, Cam flipped the latch on the scroll and unrolled it. The writing on the scroll began to glow golden, before it flew out of Cam's hands. The scroll only continued to grow larger as it enlarged itself and transformed into a portal.

"Everything just froze," Dawn spoke up again, noticing how the footage of the rangers and Madtropolis froze onscreen. "Did the computer break?"

"It's not broken; time will be frozen until the writing on the scroll fades away," Sensei explained to them both, before turning to his son. "Cam, are you certain this is the only way?"

"I can't think of anything more desperate than this; and I can't think of any power source but this one that can save us," Cam shook his head in response. "Dawn and I will go back to the past and retrieve it."

"You must hurry," Sensei warned them. "Or both of you will be trapped in the past forever."

"Yeah, that would be bad; the 70's weren't my favorite era anyway," Dawn muttered to herself, shaking her head slightly, and then looking back at Cam and Sensei. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Cam, you have your mother's courageous heart; and your father's stubborn head," Sensei shook his head with some mock regret, causing Cam to smile slightly. "Be careful."

"We'll be back, dad; we promise," Cam promised his father, before turned to Dawn and letting out a deep breath. "No turning back now; you ready?

"As ready as I'll ever be," Dawn nodded in affirmation, staring at the portal in front of them, which created a wind that blew in their faces.

Cam and Dawn exchanged once last glance, and then locked their hands together, prepared to face what they would find on the other side. With that, they both stepped through the portal together, leaving Ninja Ops and the present day behind.

* * *

Their hands unintentionally separated the moment they stepped into the portal.

It was like a wormhole; dark but luminescent. At first they had screamed, and Dawn began to fall faster than Cam, her back facing downwards. Her eyes were wide, and all of a sudden, she found herself afraid of ending up somewhere unknown. Cam proportioned himself and began to fall face-forwards, trying to catch up to her.

"Grab on!" Cam called, reaching his arm out to her. "Don't let go!"

Dawn nodded once and reached upwards, until eventually, their hands both clutched each other's forearms.

The moment they made contact again, the darkness had disappeared, and they both found themselves lying on their backs in front of the waterfall outside the location of the Wind Academy. They were breathing heavily at first, still trying to adjust to their surroundings, and then they slowly stood up.

"So, do you think it worked?" Dawn asked first, brushing herself off once she was back on her feet.

"I don't know," Cam's eyes began to scan their environment. "This place looks exactly the same."

However, the two of them felt a breeze come from behind, and heard a clack against the rocks on the ground, along with leaves rustling. Cam and Dawn slowly turned around, and staggered back at the sight.

A black horse reared back, and when its front hooves were on the ground again, it revealed a masked man with a red-accented ninja uniform sitting on its back.


	8. The Samurai's Journey II

**Hi there everyone!**

**So, here's the next chapter. **

**I ****don't have much to say as a side note, but I will ask of some of you guys to check out my new story 'Pirate Legacy', which is my own adaption of Gokaiger. Unlike Super Megaforce, my version will involve more elements of Gokaiger than just the ranger suits. I'd really appreciate it if you guys checked it out, thanks :)**

**I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter, and please review! :)**

**I do not own Power Rangers**

* * *

Cam and Dawn's eyes were glued on the ninja that stared down at them. A few awkward seconds of silence passed, until the ninja climbed off his horse and faced the two of them. "Password," He commanded, crossing his arms. "Tell me the password, or you shall both perish where you stand."

Dawn thought for a moment, trying to remember. She did know the password, or what it had once been in the past, and she began to open her mouth to say it, until-

"Air, Water, and Earth as One." Cam answered in a confident voice before Dawn could give the correct answer.

"Sorry," The ninja shook his head, and uncrossed his arms. "Wrong answer."

With that, the ninja grabbed Cam by the wrist and flipped him down. When Dawn tried to intervene, she ended up on her back against the ground too.

"Trust me, someday that will be the password," Cam muttered, grabbing the ninja's ankle and yanking it.

The ninja fell down too, and soon enough, all three of them stood up and became engaged in a battle. The ninja swiped his arm and tried to hit them, but Dawn and Cam kept blocking the hits. At last, Cam grabbed his arm and swung him around, before successfully managing to flip the ninja over his shoulder.

The ninja quickly rolled off from the ground, and got into a defensive position. "Only students here are taught that move," He spoke. "Where did you learn it?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Cam shook his head slightly.

"Try me," He got ready to charge again, until-

"That's enough, Kanoi!"

They all turned to see an older man wearing red-shaded Sensei robes and a black Sensei cap standing by the waterfall. "Kanoi?" Cam mumbled, turning his head to look at the ninja, who pulled off his ninja mask. Kanoi stared at Cam for a moment, before turning to his Sensei.

"Sensei, I found these intruders," Kanoi reported to his Sensei. "They know our ways; our techniques."

"It appears so," The Sensei nodded, and then his eyes caught sight of Dawn standing there. "Lady Evenson."

"Sensei Truman," Dawn bowed her head slightly in respect, and Truman bowed his head back at her.

Cam looked back and forth between Dawn and Truman, feeling a small sense of relief. Clearly Dawn must've encountered Truman at some point before in the past, and they were allies.

"Always a pleasure to see you visit," Truman acknowledged her, and then glanced at Cam for a moment. "Who is your companion here?"

"This is my apprentice, Cam," Dawn introduced, sending Cam a quick look to go along with it. "He's been traveling with me since he was a boy; I've been training him for a while now-"

"I want to hear what he has to say," Truman held up a hand to stop Dawn, and then looked at Cam again. "Speak."

Cam had to think of a cover story quickly, before finally speaking. "My mother died when I was young, and my father raised me until he was kidnapped. Dawn found me, and I've been traveling with her ever since," He told Truman. "She's been a brilliant sensei to me, but I wish to join the Wind Academy. I know I can't remain by her side forever."

Truman stared at Cam for a moment, and then turn to Kanoi. "Give him a test uniform and have him join the new students," He instructed. "We'll know if he's meant to be."

"Hold on, test uniform?" Cam interrupted. "You still have-"

"Until we find out whether you belong in Air, Earth, or Water, you will wear no color."

Kanoi, on the other hand, seemed outraged. "But, Sensei, he's an intruder!"

"Who shows potential to become a student," Truman counteracted. "And another thing Kanoi, don't be late for class again; I'm beginning to question your commitment to your ninja training."

With that, Truman walked back through the portal at the waterfall. Kanoi only shook his head with irritation.

"Looks like someone's in the ninja dog house," Cam couldn't help but taunt him at first.

Kanoi just narrowed his eyes at Cam. "Don't push your luck...and stop staring at me."

"Sorry," Cam shook his head apologetically. "You just remind me of someone."

"...follow me," Kanoi spoke, and then started to walk through the portal.

Cam watched Kanoi walk away, and he smiled to himself. "Coming...father."

Dawn turned her head to look at Kanoi, and then looked back at Cam. "Your dad," She realized, smiling slightly as she started to walk forwards. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before."

"I didn't even notice it until I heard his name," Cam nodded too, and started to walk forwards, before stopping suddenly.

"Cam?" Dawn asked, turning and looking back at him. "You coming?"

Cam reached his pocket for the Scroll of Time, and when he opened it out, he realized that the writing on it had erased itself; their time had just started. He closed it again, and gave Dawn a small nod. "Yeah, I'm coming."

* * *

After changing into one of the gray test ninja uniforms, Cam began to walk to the stage in front of the academy. Dawn managed to meet up with him, and she was still dressed in her usual black leather uniform.

"Nice uniform," She commented, approaching Cam.

"Thanks," He nodded, looking down at his uniform as well. "I still remember that it used to be my dream as a kid to wear one of these uniforms someday."

"Not quite the situation you imagined you'd be wearing it for though, huh?"

"That too," Cam agreed, just as they approached the stage. His eyes scanned the area for a moment. "It's kind of nice to see the Wind Academy in one piece again."

Dawn looked around as well, smiling slightly to herself. "Yeah, instead of a large canyon filled with rubble," She agreed, until she noticed that some of the other students were looking at her and muttering stuff about her. One thing she noticed was that they were all male. "...aren't there any females at the academy?"

"I don't think so," Cam realized, looking around as well. "My dad told me that the academy was originally all-male during his time."

"That is so sexist," Dawn shook her head with disbelief and irritation. "This is the 70's; anti-feminism should be over by now."

"Students, at ease!"

Before the two of them could say anything else, they saw Truman walk onto the stage and eye all of the students. "In the tradition of the Wind Ninja Academy, we must welcome our students with a demonstration," He announced, looking at the row of new students in the front, and the regular students in the back. "Our best fighter, Kanoi, will demonstrate the sword techniques of the Wind Ninja."

As Truman walked off the platform, Kanoi raised his head and stood up slowly on the platform. He faced the audience and drew his wooden training sword from his belt, and then began to demonstrate. Cam watched his father's routine, and was unable to help himself from smiling slightly. He failed to notice someone snake their way to his side.

"Kanoi talks tough, but he can be beat," A voice next to Cam spoke to him, while wearing a smirk on his face. "I should know."

Cam turned his head to see a man standing next to him that wore an Earth Ninja uniform, and had gelled-back black hair. The thing about this man that shocked Cam? He looked exactly like Kanoi. "You two...you're-"

"-twins. I'm Kiya." The man, Kiya, introduced himself. "Lucky for me, I got all the personality in the family. Kanoi just got the good looks."

Cam stared back and forth between Kanoi and Kiya, before glancing downwards. "I can't believe dad never told me..."

"What?" Kiya raised an eyebrow at him, seeming confused.

"Nothing," Cam dismissed it. "It's been a really weird day for me."

It wasn't long until Kanoi finished demonstrating, and used his wooden sword to cut one of the poles in half, which amazed some of the male students.

"For the next demonstration, we will need a volunteer," Truman announced afterwards.

He walked around and eyed the row of the new students. He stopped in front of Cam for a second and seemed to consider, before walking past him. Soon, he stopped in front of one student that was still wearing a mask. Truman handed the student a wooden sword, and they bowed their head while accepting it.

"But Sensei, this is a new student," Kanoi objected at first. "The fight is unfair!"

"We shall see," Truman spoke, while the student walked onto the stage. "You may begin."

Kanoi turned to look at the student, and the two of them bowed at each other first. Kanoi drew his sword again and held it out in front of himself, while the student kept their sword near their waist line and crouched slightly. They began to circle each other for a moment, while the student slowly drew their sword and pointed it forwards. At last, Kanoi charged forwards. His strikes were messy and fast, but the student was stiff, and their attacks were swift and quick.

At last, the student swiped their sword outwards, and with enough force, sent Kanoi flying into the crowd and onto his back. The student stared down at Kanoi and swiftly placed their sword back on their belt ring while crouching again.

Cam kept his eyes on the student the whole time, watching their technique carefully. "The only time I've seen a sword technique like that would be from a-"

"-samurai. I studied that technique when I went to Japan a couple of centuries ago," Dawn recognized immediately, seeming intrigued. "The quick and swift movement, and of course, their final battle position. They make fighting look like an art."

Kanoi narrowed his eyes at the student and stood up again. With a cry, he leapt back onto the platform again, but when he brought down his sword, the student already had their sword out to block it. The student then swiped their sword under Kanoi's feet, and he was back on the floor again feeling shameful. The student placed their sword back into their belt ring, and stepped on Kanoi's wrist when he tried to get up again.

"Excellent, Miko," Truman praised, stepping onto the platform and giving a small nod to the new student, who removed their foot and bowed their head at him.

"Miko?" Kanoi repeated, as he stood on his feet again. "That's the name of a girl."

Miko bowed her head, and pulled her mask to reveal the face of an Asian woman with long and straight jet black hair. This seemed to shock a lot of the students, as they kept murmuring, but Cam was the most shocked out of them all.

"Mom?"

"He's a she-!" Kanoi objected, feeling embarrassed while Miko smiled with some amusement at him. "-I mean, she's a girl!"

"That seems clearly obvious," Truman nodded, seeming slightly amused too. "Kanoi, meet your victor."

Miko bowed out of respect at Kanoi. "But her sword work," Kanoi insisted, looking back at Truman. "It's not the ninja way."

"Very observant," Miko nodded at him. "I was trained as a Samurai by my father."

"Sensei, this school is bound by tradition," Kanoi tried to insisted again, feeling outraged. "There are no women allowed here."

Dawn crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Kanoi. "Excuse me?" She spoke up, stepping onto the stage and facing Kanoi. "Women have just as much of a right to be here at men; I think that's already been proven by Miko here," She gave an acknowledging smile to Miko, who returned the smile back at her.

"Why? Are you afraid of a girl?" Kiya spoke up and taunted his brother, earning a couple of snickers from the other students. "Maybe we need to change our traditions."

"Oh you like breaking the rules, don't you brother?" Kanoi raised his eyebrows, as the look on Kiya's face changed into a more serious one. "I know what you've been up to in your free time."

Kiya pointed at Kanoi accusingly. "Watch what you say, brother!" He warned him with a sneer. "I wouldn't want you to make accusations without proof to back them up."

Cam and Dawn observed the two brothers' argument, and realized there was more to it than just the fight with Miko. "Enough!" Truman announced, putting a stop to the argument, and getting back on the topic. "This student has displayed impressive skills, and will be allowed to enroll here as the first female in the school's history."

"Thank you, Sensei," Miko smiled gratefully at Truman.

Kanoi walked off the platform with a look of frustration on his face, and shoved past a couple of the students as he left the scene completely. Miko bowed in front of the students, causing a necklace to fall out of her shirt. Cam observed it was dimly glowing green, and Miko tucked it quickly back into her shirt.

That was when the realization hit Cam.

His mother had the power they were looking for.

* * *

As the day passed, Dawn walked around the camp. She had been observing some of the students, and couldn't help but watch their techniques. A memory then began to resurface in her mind...

_Dawn was 11 years old, as she trained in the field outside of her house. She was demonstrating a sword technique to her father with a katana, who stood by the side and watched her. At last, she finished off in a final stance, and remained still until she heard her father speak up._

_"Your balance faltered during your first spin, and your weight should be on your back foot," He instructed, using a wooden stick to tap on Dawn's back heel._

_She nodded once, and then switched her weight to her back foot. "Sorry," She replied in a neutral voice, swallowing and glancing down._

_"...Dawn," Her father spoke up again, leaning downwards so he was at her height. "Some little things aren't necessary, as long as you understand the whole picture," He tried to assure her, his tone switching to one that was warmer. "The little things can be worked on later. For now, that was a brilliant job."_

_Dawn's head tilted upwards to look at her father, and soon enough, a small smile appeared on her face._

_"Hello, Dawn!" A voice called out, and Dawn turned around to see a girl that was close to her age run into the backyard with a smile on her face._

_"Genevieve!" Dawn smiled happily, dropping her katana and running to the girl..._

"Dawn!" Cam's voice snapped her out of it.

Dawn's head turned, and she looked to see Cam approaching her with Miko. "Hey, Cam; Miko," She greeted with a small smile. "What are you guys doing together?"

"Miko was telling me a little about how she was able to do her samurai technique earlier," Cam responded, and then looked down at Miko. "Something to do with your amulet, right?"

"Yes," Miko nodded in reply. "Actually, the Samurai Spirit had been passed down in my family for generations."

"Along with the amulet?" Dawn asked her this time.

Once again, Miko nodded in response to the question. "It was given to me by my father," She admitted to them, rolling the small spherical amulet between her fingers, and then tucked it back under her shirt. She thought for a short moment, and then looked back at Cam and Dawn. "Why don't the two of you tell me about your families?"

"Um, I guess you could say I haven't seen my family in a long time...my parents passed years ago," Dawn stretched the truth slightly, shrugging afterwards. "I've been travelling recently, though. Just, seeing the world..."

"That sounds like a grand journey," Miko gave her a small smile, and then looked back at Cam for his answer.

"Well, my mom died when I was younger," Cam admitted to her, hiding well the fact that she was his mother. "My father had been a sensei...but, he got kidnapped once. Dawn came across me, and I've been travelling by her side ever since," He lied this time, but once again, he hid the truth well.

"I'm sorry," Miko apologized to him for his loss.

Cam nodded too, thinking of his real past this time. "My mother was a great warrior, but my father said once that she would never approve of the life I've chosen," He admitted, glancing downwards. "Of me doing what I'm doing."

"I have a feeling that if she could see you now, she might feel differently," Miko told Cam with a supportive smile, just as they arrived in front of one of the tents.

With that said, Miko walked inside her tent, while Cam smiled to himself. "Thanks, mom..."

"Alright," Dawn spoke up, placing her hands on her hips and giving Cam a small smile. "Let's get going, mama's boy."

Cam rolled his eyes at her teasing statement, before he noticed that his pocket was glowing. He pulled out the scroll again, and an outline of the writing was starting to glow.

"Alright, we get it. The letters are stronger when we're near the amulet," Cam sighed to himself, and closed the scroll again. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Cam and Dawn took a walk through the forest. They had been sitting by the lake for a while, until they both agreed they were starting to get hungry, and decided to head back. Out of nowhere, a person jumped from the air and kicked Cam in the back, knocking him to the ground. When Dawn tried to help, a few of the ninja students arrived and prevented her from do so.

"Hey!" Dawn exclaimed, when two of the students grabbed her by the arms. "Let go of me!"

Meanwhile, Cam's attacker picked him up, and locked his arms behind his back together. "Where is it?" The unquestionable voice of Miko spoke harshly to Cam. "Why did you take it?"

"What are you talking about?" Cam questioned her, seeming utterly confused.

"You stole my amulet!" Miko accused, loosening her grip on Cam's arms. "You'll be lucky if they decide to make your punishment merciful!"

"What?" Dawn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, struggling against the other students. "He didn't take anything! I've been with him the whole afternoon!"

Kanoi stood on top of a slope, and ignored Dawn's claims. "As Captain of the Academy Guard, I must place you under arrest," He pointed down at Cam, just as the rest of the guard jumped down and grabbed Cam from Miko.

With that done, the students dragged Cam back towards the academy, and Miko followed. The students that were holding Dawn and left too, and she turned her glare towards Kanoi. "He didn't steal anything!" She insisted, stepping up in front of him. "I can even vouch for his sake!"

"Then I suggest you take it up with the Sensei," Kanoi narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

Before Dawn could retort, she spotted something coming from the other side of the forest. Kanoi's gaze followed Dawn's, and he spotted a green glow in the distance. "...you see that, right?" Dawn asked him, her tone less harsh.

"Yeah, I do," Kanoi nodded, a look of curiosity on his face. "But what is it?"

* * *

The sound of drums filled the air, as Cam was placed on top of the platform. For being accused of stealing Miko's amulet, and denying that he even laid a hand on it, Cam was put on trial in front of the academy. He knew that Dawn would be able to vouch for him, but the girl was nowhere in sight...

"You stand accused for stealing from a fellow student," Truman spoke up, once the sound of the drums had stopped. "We've heard from several eye witnesses who saw you commit the crime. Do you have anything to say?"

Cam's eyes scanned the crowd, until he spotted Miko among the other students. "Miko," He spoke up towards her, a look of disappointment showing on his face, and Miko's eyes locked onto his. "I would never do this to you."

"The law of the Wind Ninja Academy does not waver on this issue," Truman took a step forward, when Miko had no response. "Those guilty of breaking the Ninja Code must be banished. The evidence seems irrefutable; I will now pass judgement on the accused," He announced to the students, while Cam's gaze flickered downwards.

"The judgement is that I find you-"

_"Not guilty!" _

Everyone in the crowd turned around to see Dawn and Kanoi standing there in the back. They were both holding a student in a gray test uniform with a mask over their face. Reaching under the person's chin, Kanoi grabbed the edge of the mask and pulled it off, revealing the face of...

"Kiya?" Miko realized, her eyes widening.

Gripping him tightly, Kanoi and Dawn escorted Kiya to the front. "Tell the truth!" Dawn ordered him, as she and Kanoi threw Kiya down into the front of the platform.

Kiya's head rose up, and he stared at Truman, a dark glint showing in his eyes, and a smirk playing on his lips. "I'm the one who took the amulet," He admitted to Truman and everyone else.

"We caught him in the woods," Dawn explained to Truman, and held up the amulet in her hand for everyone to see. "But that's not all."

"He was trying to use his dark ninja powers to unlock the amulet," Kanoi added to the accusation. "He's been practicing in the way of the dark ninja for weeks now."

Kiya simply rolled his eyes, and flickered his gaze towards his twin. "You always did know how to spoil a party, didn't you, brother?"

Some of the students looked outraged at the mention of 'dark ninja powers'. "Any use of the dark powers will result in immediate expulsion- this is the first rule of the Wind Ninja Academy!" Truman stated, staring down at Kiya. "Have you anything to say, Kiya?"

"Not really," Kiya smirked up at Truman, coming to his feet again. "I'm more a man of action."

Using his dark ninja powers, he fired a wave of energy forwards, knocking down Truman and the other students that stood on the platform. Afterwards, Kiya went on a rampage and started to shoot several more waves at everyone else, causing them to either fall down, or hide and take cover.

Staring at the amulet in Dawn's hand, Kiya turned to face her and Kanoi. Dawn and Kanoi stood in stances, prepared to defend the amulet, but Kiya shot a blast at them before they could do anything else. Dawn was sent flying into the air, along with the amulet, before tumbling on the ground next to Kanoi.

When Miko reached up for the amulet, a wave was shot at her before she could even touch it. Miko spun in the air, but she was able to kick it in Cam's direction before falling down. Thankfully, Cam managed to catch it.

While all the other students were down, Kiya flipped onto the platform, and got prepared to face Cam.

"Stop him!" Kanoi cried, pointing a finger towards Kanoi.

Dawn quickly scrambled to her feet, and ran straight towards the platform. However, before she could reach it, Kiya created a dark force field to separate him and Cam from the other students. Dawn bounced off the force field and stumbled backwards, only to have Kanoi catch her in his arms before she could hit the ground again.

"This is between me and the new kid," Kiya growled, as a strong wind blew inside the force field, before turning his attention to Cam. "Pity!" He yelled over the roar of the wind. "Things were going so well until you and your female friends showed up!"

Staring down at the amulet in this hand, Cam pulled together all his confidence and placed it around his neck, narrowing his eyes at Kiya. "Sorry to spoil your fun!"

"You wanna make it up to me?" Kiya spoke, tauntingly, bending downwards to pick up a wooden sword from the ground, his gaze still look on Cam. "Hand over the amulet!"

"I can't do that," Cam refused, picking up a wooden sword of his own, and then he stared down at it for a moment.

He began to remember the times when he would train in sword fighting with Dawn as a kid, using the same type of wooden sword. But this wasn't training, or a game. This was real life now. If he screwed up now, he was done for.

Dawn watched Cam pick up the wooden sword, and there was a look of determination showing in her eyes. "Come on, Cam..."

Cam and Kiya began to circle each other on the platform, their eyes narrowed at each other and their swords pointed forwards. "Well, then," Kiya growled out. "Looks like I'll just have to take it from you."

With a yell, Cam made the first strike and brought the sword down, but Kiya maneuvered out of the way, and used his own sword to block another strike from him. They swung their swords at each other closely, blocking each other's attacks, and moving at a quick speed. For a while, they stood face to face with each other, with their swords clashed.

"You're a stubborn one!" Kiya grunted out.

"Runs in the family!" Cam exclaimed back at him.

Kiya's eyes landed on the amulet again, but when it reached out for it, Cam got the upper hand and trapped Kiya's sword against the ground with his own.

"Give me the amulet, or you'll regret ever crossing my path!"

"Like I already don't!"

With one final swing, the two of them got their sword free from each other, and moved to opposite sides of the platform. However, when Cam got ready to charge again, Kiya used his dark ninja powers to lift Cam up into the air, and then released him, letting Cam fall flat on his stomach.

Despite this, Cam got back onto his feet again, and after adjusting his glasses, he charged forwards once more. Cam managed to trap Kiya's sword under his own again, until Kiya kicked him in the leg and tripped him over.

As the battle continued, Dawn watched Cam display some impressive moved against Kiya, even high-flipping over him. The two of them battled against each other, resorting to kicks for a while, until Kiya fired a wave in Cam's direction, causing Cam to roll on the ground and hit the side of the force field.

"You put up quite a fight!" Kiya admitted, grabbing Cam by the shirt and pulling him up. "But now, prepare to meet your fate!" He growled, throwing down Cam across the ground again, and standing over him.

Kiya raised up his sword and brought it down, but Cam used his own sword to block the hit. He used all of his strength to prevent Kiya's sword from reaching him...but then, something amazing happened.

The Samurai Amulet began to glow a bright green. The green glow only brightened, and when it got to the point where it was blinding, the amulet released a wave of energy that threw Kiya into the side of the force field and knock the wind out of him.

When he hit the ground, the force field disappeared, and Dawn ran onto the platform with Miko and Kanoi, while several other students apprehended Kiya. Dawn managed to get to Cam first, and then offered a hand to help him up, which Cam accepted gratefully.

"Cam, what you just did," Dawn spoke up to him, a small smile growing on her face. "Now, that was impressive."

"Not really," Cam shrugged, looking down at the small, green orb around his neck. "It was all the amulet, really..."

Dawn rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. "I'm not talking about what happened with the amulet, I'm talking about the skills you displayed in your battle against Kiya. Your swordsmanship was amazing out that, and so were your actual martial arts," She spoke to him with a proud smile. "As your first sensei, I'm honored to say that I'm proud of the warrior you've grown into."

Cam smiled at Dawn's praise, and then gave her a small bow out of respect. "Thank you, Dawn," He thanked her, and Dawn returned the gesture to him.

Just then, Miko ran over to Cam's side, along with Kanoi. "Cam, are you okay?" She asked him on instinct.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He assured his mother, before staring down at the small, green orb around his neck. "But, what just happened?"

"The Samurai Amulet has found it's true owner," Miko realized, staring up at him.

"Me?" Cam's eyes widened slightly. "But this is yours! I can't take this."

"You must," Miko insisted, stopping him when she saw that Cam was reaching to take the amulet off. "That's why you came here, isn't it?"

Cam's hands slowly dropped when he realized that his mother had figured it out. "I guess the jig's up," Dawn let out a small puff of air, and shoved her hands into her pockets.

"You think you can stop me from harnessing the darkest powers in the universe?" Kiya's voice raised, as everyone turned to see him being held back by two other students. However, there was a dark glint showing in his eyes, and the look on his face could've been mistaken for the look of a mad man. "I will rule this world, and all others withing my reach!"

"You've brought this fate upon yourself!" Truman narrowed his eyes down at Kiya, and pointing at him. "You will be cast adrift in the universe, where you dark ninja powers may cause no harm. You are hereby stripped of your ninja rank, and the man known as Kiya will no longer exist!"

"I have no use for your archaic ways, or your worthless name," Kiya sneered at Truman, who slowly lowered his finger. "From now on, I will take the name of the ancient warrior of evil!"

Suddenly, Cam and Dawn's eyes widened in realization and horror, while Kiya continued his rant.

"From this point forward, I will be known as _Lothor!"_

"No!" Cam yelled out, rushing forward to stop him.

However, Truman held out his arm to stop Cam, and even Dawn held him back too and shook her head at him. Just then, a white energy bubble appeared in Truman's hand, and his gaze shifted upwards to the newly named 'Lothor', before he shot the bubble at Lothor, trapping him inside.

"I will not forget the part you played in this, brother!" Lothor declared, staring at Kanoi with a look of hatred. "I will have my revenge..."

"Be gone, Lothor!" Truman spat out, raising his hand upwards.

The bubble followed his hand, and shot upwards into the void of space. "No, he has to be destroyed!" Cam insisted, trying to prevent Lothor's invasion in the future. "What if he comes back?"

"We can only judge someone by their actions in the present, not some future we cannot see," Truman told Cam in a wise voice, but that only seemed to irritate Cam even more.

"Please, trust me on this," Cam tried to tell Truman. "We have to destroy him now!"

"Cam, we can't risk changing the future too much," Dawn spoke to him in a quiet voice, trying to convince him. "It's better this way..."

Before Cam could argue, his pocket began to glow again, and he retrieved the scroll from inside. Opening it up, the scroll's writing glowed a bright golden color, before transforming into the portal again.

"Use the amulet," Miko told Cam, stepping up next to him.

"Wait, how will I know-" Cam cut himself off when Miko stared upwards at him. "There's so much I want to ask you, so much I want to tell you..."

"...goodbye, Cam," Miko spoke to him with a small smile, silently telling him that she would wait for the future to come herself. "Good luck."

With that said, Miko walked back to stand by Kanoi, while Dawn turned her head and looked up at Cam too. "I guess you got what you wanted, huh?" She realized, glancing down at his amulet. "Congratulations, Cam, you've earned it...

"Thanks, Dawn," Cam smiled slightly at her, before catching the look on her face, and his smile faded a little. Placing the amulet between his fingers, it started to glow a faint green. "...but you deserve it just as much as I do."

Dawn seemed confused by what Cam meant for a moment, before green energy from the amulet started to flow into her wrist brace. When the energy hit the brace, the green turned white, until finally, the amulet flashed green and stopped, while the brace flashed white and transformed. Dawn stared down at her brace, and a look of surprise crossed her face.

"You know you didn't have to do that for me, right?" Dawn asked him, a small smile playing on her face.

Cam gave her a small nod. "Yeah, but hey, you deserved to properly be part of the team."

Dawn only smiled in response to it, before turning to look back at the portal. She exchanged glances with Cam, and after grabbing onto each others' hands, they stepped through the portal and back into the wormhole.

* * *

Back in the present, the powerless rangers were still by the field with Madtropolis towering over them. Just then, everyone started to look up when they heard a soft humming noise in the distance. "What's that noise?" Shane spoke up, his head turning.

Tori's eyes scanned the skies, before spotting something. "Look!"

In the air was a zord-like chopper, that was green, white, and gold colored. The chopper flew through the air, and began to circle the area above the rangers. Just then, a door to the chopper opened up, and two figures stepped out onto the ledge. They were Power Rangers.

"Hello, Power Rangers!" One of them called, speaking into his sword, and the top acted like a microphone. It was a green ranger, with gold armor covering his shoulders and torso. "Looks like you could use a little help!"

The other ranger was a white ranger that was female. The sleeves and pants on her uniform were black, but she didn't have any armor. Instead, there was a gold and black star symbol on her chest. She grabbed the microphone from her teammate, and gave the rangers a nod.

"Samurai Rangers at your service!"

With that said, the two rangers got back inside their chopper, and sat down in their cockpit. Unlike the other rangers, with their separate zords and cockpits, since the Samurai Rangers shared their zord, they had a larger cockpit that was fit for two pilots.

"Hey!" Madtropolis cried, spotting the chopper in the air. "Who are you?!"

"Only the rangers that will bring an end to you," White narrowed her eyes underneath her helmet at Madtropolis. She plugged her sword into the control handle of her cockpit, and then turned to look at her teammate. "You ready?"

"Oh yeah!" Green clenched his fist and nodded, plugging his own sword into his handle.

The chopper began to accelerate forwards, and flew higher upwards. Green then activated the lasers, causing green and white lasers to be shot down at Madtropolis.

"Two can play that game!" Madtropolis growled, stepping forward and shooting rays into the air from his hands.

"Hang on!" Green cried, his hands gripping his control stick, and making sure the chopper avoided the path of the rays. "Hey, it's kinda like one of those pilot video games," He chuckled a little, as he continued to make the chopper dodge the lasers.

"Well I don't remember video games tossing me around the room like a ball," White retorted, practically gripping the edges of her chair so she wouldn't fall out.

Once the lasers had stopped, White took control and flew the chopper forwards, before turning it onto its side so the propeller broke through the ground. When the chopper ascended again, the ground crumbled and Madtropolis stumbled downwards.

"Samurai Star Megazord!" Green called, activating the chopper's megazord mode, causing the chopper to transform.

"I'm not through yet!" Madtropolis yelled, getting back onto his feet and staring up at the flying megazord.

"We didn't think so," White pulled out a power disc, and inserted it into the slot. "Power disc, locked and dropped."

A yellow power sphere then materialized itself in front of the megazord, before opening up to reveal the Bee Spinner, which was a bee-like yo-yo. The Samurai Star grabbed it, and then swung it at Madtropolis, until he was eventually defeated.

When the Samurai Star stationed itself on the ground, the two Samurai Rangers jumped out of their megazord and onto the ground in front of the other rangers.

"...is it me, or am I see a dude and dudette in ranger gear?" Dustin spoke up, deciding to break the silence.

"Nah, dude," Shane shook his head. "I see them too."

White exchanged glances with Green, rolling her eyes underneath her helmet, while the others talked about them. The Wind and Thunder Rangers seemed oblivious to what exactly was going on, and they were oblivious.

"You guys never said anything about a green and a white," Blake looked back at the Wind Rangers, seeming a little offended.

"Yeah," Hunter agreed with him. "Way to hold out on us,"

"Hey, it's new to us too," Shane defended himself and his teammates.

Dustin seemed to think about it for a moment. "Maybe we're all hallucinating..." He suggested, scratching the back of his head. Hallucinating would've made some sense, considering they were all still exhausted from the drainage of their powers.

"You're not hallucinating, Dustin," White spoke up, much to the rangers' shock.

Dustin, on the other hand, had his mouth hanging open. He exchanged looks with Hunter, and then looked back at the Samurai Rangers. "How do you know my name?" He asked with a bit of amazement in his tone.

"Why wouldn't we know your name?" Green counteracted, a small grin playing on his lips underneath his helmet.

Tori, who had been silent the whole time, also had a smile growing on her face when the came to the realization who they were.

In a flash of green and white, the Samurai Rangers demorphed to reveal Cam and Dawn. The rest of the rangers seemed a little surprised at first, before they started to grin at the addition of their two new teammates.


End file.
